DALLAS — The Harris for President campaign has already reached out to some of the 273 Texas delegates to the Democratic National Convention next month, asking for their support, as she tries to coalesce Democrats around her new candidacy.
Inside the Harris campaign right now, staffers are working the phones trying to shore up support.
“They’re calling donors, absolutely calling party insiders and they’re calling delegates,” said Jane Hamilton, who was the chairwoman for Biden’s 2020 campaign in Texas.
Hamilton said she thinks Democratic delegates will make Harris the party’s presidential nominee, but convincing financial donors might be more challenging.
“Donors seem, not necessarily to be aligned inside of their own circles but what I’m hearing from key Democratic leaders, our delegates, our superdelegates, is that they’re going to be behind Harris,” Hamilton explained.
But when pressed about whether financial donors are also aligned with Harris’ campaign, Hamilton said “I would say no. My message to them would be get on board.”
Donors aren’t alone. Several Democrats told WFAA that they expect more candidates to emerge.
“There’s a perception among some Democrats as well as the general voting public that Kamala Harris cannot beat Donald Trump, and that she doesn’t really have a big record as vice president,” said Domingo Garcia, the past national president for LULAC. “I believe people will unite at the end but there is some hesitancy among some elements of the Democratic Party whether Kamala Harris the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in November.”
Still, for the first time in weeks, Democrats have a renewed sense of optimism.
“Oh my God. I got so many text messages from friends, from supporters,” said U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth. Many of them asked “how can I get involved? How can I give,” he added.
The Dallas County Democratic Party plans to meet on Monday to discuss next month’s Democratic National Convention and the local delegation’s plan, according to county chairman Kardal Coleman.
Dropping Biden and promoting Harris does help Democrats flip the script on Republicans. It’s now the Democrats who are making age an issue saying Donald Trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history.
Still, Sunday’s historic decision shows just how consequential that June debate turned out to be.
Texas Republicans told WFAA that Harris owns Biden’s record, whether you change the name at the top, the issues remain the same, they said.
But Republicans are having to reset themselves.
Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz sent an email to Texas reporters on Sunday night to cancel a news conference in Houston on Monday morning in which he was going to discuss a new bill in the Senate.
A few minutes later, Cruz sent a new invite to a new press conference but this time to discuss Kamala Harris, an indication that Republicans are clearly concerned about such a significant campaign development.