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- Vide President Kamala Harris
Updated on July 23, 2024.
Vermont’s Democratic leaders are rallying around Vice President Kamala Harris to be their party’s nominee for president following President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid.
The leadership of the Vermont Democratic Party, many of the state’s delegates for the Democratic convention and most of the state’s congressional delegation have either endorsed Harris or praised her since Biden dropped out and endorsed her.
Though many questions remain about whether Harris will secure the support necessary to avoid a nomination battle at the August 19 convention in Chicago, state party leaders expressed a sense of relief and excitement that the next phase of the fight to keep the White House had begun.
“Most of the conversations I have had in the last 24 hours have been of immense excitement,” said Natalie Silver, one of the state’s 16 pledged delegates. “People are fired up. People are ready to do this.”
Before Sunday, Silver said she heard a clear consensus among Vermont Democrats that Biden should step aside to give the party the best possible chance of beating Donald Trump in the fall. Since Sunday, Silver said, she has gotten dozens of calls from people urging her as a delegate to back the vice president.
The state’s party leaders got that same message. Party chair David Glidden and vice chair Amanda Gustin joined the leaders of other state parties on Sunday evening to formally endorse Harris as the party’s nominee for president.
The decision is not binding for any of the nearly 4,000 delegates who pledged loyalty to Biden following his victory in the Democratic primaries. But the endorsement vote is one of several signs that Democratic support is quickly coalescing behind Harris.
“As we move forward, united, we will protect President Biden's legacy by ensuring we do everything in our power between now and November 5 to defeat Donald Trump, stop Trump's Project 2025, and elect Democrats up and down the ballot in every corner of this country," Ken Martin, president of the Association of State Democratic Committees, said in a statement.
Glidden said he and Gustin voted during an “urgent” virtual meeting of the association on Sunday night to endorse Harris. They did so in part because of the tight time frame Democrats now face in introducing the new nominee to the public.
"We have 106 days to get whatever candidate is chosen over the finishing line, and that’s not a lot of time," Glidden said.
The state’s 16 pledged delegates take very seriously their role of expressing the will of March primary voters, and those voters already expressed support for Harris as Biden’s running mate, Glidden said.
On Monday night, the delegates made it official by voting unanimously to back Harris.
In public statements, members of the state’s federal delegation uniformly praised Biden.
“Joe Biden has served our country with honor and dignity," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on X. "As the first president to ever walk on a picket line with striking workers, he has been the most pro-working class president in modern American history. Thank you, Mr. President, for all you’ve done.” Sanders, who had urged the public to support Biden, has said nothing publicly about Harris.
Vermont’s Democratic leaders are rallying around Vice President Kamala Harris to be their party’s nominee for president following President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid.
The leadership of the Vermont Democratic Party, many of the state’s delegates for the Democratic convention and most of the state’s congressional delegation have either endorsed Harris or praised her since Biden dropped out and endorsed her.
Though many questions remain about whether Harris will secure the support necessary to avoid a nomination battle at the August 19 convention in Chicago, state party leaders expressed a sense of relief and excitement that the next phase of the fight to keep the White House had begun.
“Most of the conversations I have had in the last 24 hours have been of immense excitement,” said Natalie Silver, one of the state’s 16 pledged delegates. “People are fired up. People are ready to do this.”
Before Sunday, Silver said she heard a clear consensus among Vermont Democrats that Biden should step aside to give the party the best possible chance of beating Donald Trump in the fall. Since Sunday, Silver said, she has gotten dozens of calls from people urging her as a delegate to back the vice president.
The state’s party leaders got that same message. Party chair David Glidden and vice chair Amanda Gustin joined the leaders of other state parties on Sunday evening to formally endorse Harris as the party’s nominee for president.
The decision is not binding for any of the nearly 4,000 delegates who pledged loyalty to Biden following his victory in the Democratic primaries. But the endorsement vote is one of several signs that Democratic support is quickly coalescing behind Harris.
“As we move forward, united, we will protect President Biden's legacy by ensuring we do everything in our power between now and November 5 to defeat Donald Trump, stop Trump's Project 2025, and elect Democrats up and down the ballot in every corner of this country," Ken Martin, president of the Association of State Democratic Committees, said in a statement.
Glidden said he and Gustin voted during an “urgent” virtual meeting of the association on Sunday night to endorse Harris. They did so in part because of the tight time frame Democrats now face in introducing the new nominee to the public.
"We have 106 days to get whatever candidate is chosen over the finishing line, and that’s not a lot of time," Glidden said.
The state’s 16 pledged delegates take very seriously their role of expressing the will of March primary voters, and those voters already expressed support for Harris as Biden’s running mate, Glidden said.
On Monday night, the delegates made it official by voting unanimously to back Harris.
In public statements, members of the state’s federal delegation uniformly praised Biden.
“Joe Biden has served our country with honor and dignity," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on X. "As the first president to ever walk on a picket line with striking workers, he has been the most pro-working class president in modern American history. Thank you, Mr. President, for all you’ve done.” Sanders, who had urged the public to support Biden, has said nothing publicly about Harris.
Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) endorsed Harris.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has been an exceptional partner in the battle for dignity for working families, for reproductive freedoms and fighting corporate greed. Through her leadership, we will be able to build on the President's legacy and get the job done,” Balint wrote.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who was the only Democratic senator to call publicly for Biden to step down, applauded the president’s decision. Welch stopped short of endorsing Harris and is instead arguing for an open primary in which rank-and-file Democrats can fully participate.
“I am confident in our ability to beat Donald Trump. Our party has many capable, proven leaders — Vice President Harris among them,” Welch wrote.
Silver, who served as Balint's campaign manager and is now an adviser to her, said the pledged delegates planned to meet over Zoom on Monday evening to discuss the path forward. She expected a strong consensus to emerge for Harris.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has been an exceptional partner in the battle for dignity for working families, for reproductive freedoms and fighting corporate greed. Through her leadership, we will be able to build on the President's legacy and get the job done,” Balint wrote.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who was the only Democratic senator to call publicly for Biden to step down, applauded the president’s decision. Welch stopped short of endorsing Harris and is instead arguing for an open primary in which rank-and-file Democrats can fully participate.
“I am confident in our ability to beat Donald Trump. Our party has many capable, proven leaders — Vice President Harris among them,” Welch wrote.
Silver, who served as Balint's campaign manager and is now an adviser to her, said the pledged delegates planned to meet over Zoom on Monday evening to discuss the path forward. She expected a strong consensus to emerge for Harris.
"I think people have been feeling hopeless and scared, and yesterday I heard people feeling hopeful and motivated," she said.
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