Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Two days into the new presidential race, a majority of pledged Democratic delegates have now endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. She has no rivals for the party’s 2024 nomination.
* On a related note, the Democratic National Committee confirmed that the party will choose its presidential nominee in a virtual, online voting process by Aug. 7, which is two weeks from tomorrow. With this in mind, there’s a very good chance that Harris will choose a running mate next week.
* In an extraordinary development, Harris’ new presidential campaign raised a whopping $81 million in the 24 hours following President Joe Biden’s decision to end his re-election bid. Not surprisingly, this smashed all previous records.
* Speaking of fundraising, it turns out that none other than Donald Trump was a Harris donor — once in 2011, and then again in 2013.
* I’d recommend taking preliminary polling with a grain of salt, but a new national survey from Quinnipiac University found Trump with a narrow, two-point lead over Harris, 49% to 47%.(Click the link for information on the survey’s methodology and margins of error.)
* Harris has quickly embraced Biden’s campaign operation as her own, and the vice president asked Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign chair, to stay on and run her campaign. O’Malley Dillon accepted the role.
* Biden is canceling scheduled campaign events, but he’s also promised to hit the trail in support of his party’s ticket.
* What happens to the millions of dollars Biden raised for his campaign now that he’s passing the torch? Reuters had a good summary.
* And during an appearance on CNN, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was asked if he’s open to serving as Harris’ running mate. “Look, if they do the polling and it turns out they need a 49-year-old balding gay Jew from Boulder, Colorado, they’ve got my number,” the Democratic governor replied.
