Local delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago joined the rest of the Pennsylvania delegation in endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday.
The commonwealth’s 185 delegates met virtually on Monday and unanimously endorsed Harris. The four delegates and two alternates from the 15th Congressional District elected in the April primary had already agreed on Sunday to pledge their support for the vice president, according to a release from the Centre County Democratic Committee.
“There is a tremendous amount of excitement in seeing Vice President Kamala Harris become the nominee of the Democratic Party,” state Democratic Party Chair Sharif Street said. “More than $66.9 million was raised through ActBlue yesterday, breaking the single-day record for dollars raised. Vice President Harris will be able to take the historic success of the Biden-Harris Administration and carry it forward under her leadership, vision, and intellect.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro — who has been mentioned frequently as a potential vice presidential running mate for Harris against the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance — endorsed Harris and asked Pennsylvania’s delegates to do the same.
“I’ve known Vice President Harris for twenty years, have watched her exemplary work as a prosecutor, a senator, and now VP, and I know she is ready to serve as our president,” Shapiro said. “I am proud to have asked Pennsylvania Democrats to put our support behind the vice president’s campaign today and we are ready to get to work to deliver Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes.”
State College Mayor Ezra Nanes is one of the 15th District’s delegates to the convention. Shortly after Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the race on Sunday, Nanes praised the president’s leadership and joined him “in enthusiastically endorsing Kamala Harris.”
The district’s other delegates are Laura Shadle, Braxton White and Margie Swoboda, with alternates Abbey Carr and Baybars Charkas.
As chair of the Centre County Democratic Committee, Swoboda praised Biden for his decades of public service and lauded him for his leadership.
“It was a selfless decision, and millions of Americans who love Joe Biden — myself included— are both heartbroken and grateful for his leadership,” Swoboda wrote in a statement to county Democrats on Sunday night. “Joe Biden put love of country above all else. He made the difficult decision to pass the baton—because at the end of the day, the Democratic Party is not a cult. We are driven by democratic principles, a deep belief in the American people, and an unshakeable commitment to democracy—not fealty to a single person.”
After 50 years as an elected official, Biden reached the presidency late in life and, Swoboda wrote, his term “will go down in history as one of the most accomplished and consequential.”
“Against staggering odds, he passed historic legislation that improved the lives of millions of Americans and guided an economic recovery that is the envy of the world,” Swoboda wrote. “We have benefited enormously from his wisdom earned through a lifetime of service and the example of his resilience and empathy forged in personal tragedy. This is what real leadership looks like.”
She added that the party “will be united to honor President Biden’s sacrifice and legacy,” when it convenes on Aug. 19.
