Democratic congressional leaders back Kamala Harris as campaign gains energy

Kamala Harris won key backing from the Democratic party’s senior congressional leadership on Tuesday as she carried the energy and momentum from her whirlwind ascent to presumptive presidential nominee into a lively first campaign rally.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, and the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, gave the vice-president their endorsement during a lunchtime press briefing. Harris, they said, had re-energized Democrats following Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he would no longer seek a second term.

“We are brimming with excitement, enthusiasm, unity,” Schumer said.

“In just the last 36 hours I have seen a surge of enthusiasm from every corner of our party uniting behind Vice-President Harris, an enthusiasm felt in every corner of the country. And it’s contagious among Democrats, the volunteers, the small contributions, they’re just pouring in, in ways even beyond our expectations.”

Jeffries said Harris was “a commonsense leader who knows how to deliver real results for hard-working American taxpayers”.

Their approval came shortly before Harris addressed cheering supporters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday afternoon in her first solo campaign appearance. Harris praised Biden, attacked the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, and predicted: “We will win this election.”

“Before I was elected vice-president, before I was a US senator, I was elected attorney general of the state of California, and a courtroom prosecutor before that,” she said.

“In those roles I took on perpetrators of all kinds, predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.

“So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type. And in this campaign I promise I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.”

The rally followed news that the Harris for President campaign had raised more than $100m in the day following Biden’s withdrawal, largely from first-time donors. Harris hailed it as a record: “the best 24 hours of grassroots fundraising in presidential campaign history”.

It also came after confirmation on Monday night that Harris had secured the support of enough Democratic party delegates at its national convention next month to win the nomination for November’s election.

Biden said in a tweet he would deliver a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday evening to explain his decision to withdraw, and lay out a vision for his final six months in the White House.

Also on Tuesday, Harris’s campaign took the first formal steps towards naming a running mate. Reports in US media outlets suggested that Harris was looking at closely at two potential candidates, the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, and the Arizona senator Mark Kelly, but had requested vetting materials from several others.

They included the governors Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, although Whitmer has said she would serve instead as co-chair of the campaign.

A surprise omission was reported to be Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear, a vocal Harris acolyte. He told CNN he had not received a package from the campaign, but would “at least listen” if he was called, stressing his focus was the people of Kentucky.

Eric Holder, the attorney general during Barack Obama’s administration, has been hired to vet Harris’s potential picks of her running mate, according to Reuters.

The news that Harris had already begun assessing potential running mates reflects the speed at which the campaign is moving towards next month’s Democratic national convention in Chicago, at which the party’s candidates must be confirmed.

A survey by the Associated Press indicated that Harris had the backing of 2,688 state delegates, far more than the 1,976 needed to become the nominee.

“When I announced my campaign for president, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination. I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee, and as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state’s delegation helped put our campaign over the top,” Harris, a former California senator, said in a statement.

“I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”

A CBS News/YouGov poll on Tuesday found that 83% of Democratic registered voters approved of Biden withdrawing from the race, while just 17% disapproved.

Polls matching Harris against Trump were tighter, but showed Democrats gaining ground. Morning Consult found that the former president has 47% support nationally to Harris’s 45%, while Biden trailed Trump by six percentage points in an earlier poll.

Related:Unions rally round Harris as Trump makes populist appeal to workers

Harris entered the second full day of her campaign for the nomination in an almost unassailable position, following a breathless 24 hours that saw almost every senior party figure championing her candidacy.

All 23 Democratic state governors have publicly backed Harris, including several who had been considered potential rivals for the nomination, such as Whitmer and JB Pritzker of Illinois.

The rapid pace at which she racked up endorsements was matched by an avalanche of donations. More than $100m poured into campaign coffers in its first day, a spokesperson said on Monday, calling it the largest single-day haul of any presidential candidate in history and with most of the money coming from grassroots donors making their first contributions of the election cycle.

Campaign officials, however, were equally enthused by the succession of heavyweight Democrats who voiced their support for Harris even before Schumer and Jeffries did so on Tuesday. Notable among them was Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, who called the vice-president “brilliantly astute” and “rooted in strong values, faith and a commitment to public service”.

A number of organizing efforts are also under way on her behalf. The Win With Black Women advocacy group hosted a Zoom call for 44,000 people and raised more than $1.5m. A similar initiative involving more than 20,000 Black men on Monday pulled in at least another million.

Among the high-profile endorsements to come in for Harris on Tuesday was that of George Clooney, the Hollywood actor who wrote a powerful opinion article earlier this month calling for Biden to step aside.

“President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He’s saving democracy once again. We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice-President Harris in her historic quest,” he said in a statement.