'The light of America's promise': Harris concedes to Trump as Democrats enter political wilderness

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the 2024 White House race to President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday and vowed a peaceful transfer of power to Republicans just four years after a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol marred the previous handoff from Trump to her boss, outgoing President Joe Biden.

“The light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting,” Harris said during a late afternoon concession speech at Howard University, her alma mater and the site of an election night watch party that became its own somber event as Trump edged closer to victory.

While Harris vowed a peaceful transfer of power back to Trump, she also told a crowd of supporters she would continue to fight for policies she laid out during her short-lived presidential campaign, including abortion rights and gun control.

“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” said the 60-year-old Harris. “We will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square, and we will also wage it in quieter ways, in how we live our lives, by treating one another with kindness and respect."

The 2024 election marked the second time Democrats nominated a woman to go up against Trump. And for a second time, the country chose Trump to be its next president.

Their swift loss this week leaves the Democratic Party scrambling after Harris was unable to make the protection of American freedoms and democracy the defining issues of the presidential election. Both had been winning issues for Democrats in the 2022 congressional elections. Now, Republicans are set in January to control the White House and Senate and remain within sight of holding all levers of power if they can hold onto their House majority.

In the final days of the 2024 presidential race, Harris argued that Trump would use elected office to pursue political retribution against his enemies, would not adhere to the Constitution and was mentally unsound.

Many voters disagreed.

Trump campaigned on his first term economic record and pledged to curb illegal immigration. He was able to overcome the legacy of the Jan. 6 insurrection and a double-digit disadvantage with women by holding an overwhelming edge among men.

His win was also ultimately shaped not by his divisive rhetoric but by his stances on top issues for Americans like the economy. The victory over Harris now means the United States is expected to pull back from Biden's globally focused national security priorities and turn inward to domestic challenges such as immigration and persistently high inflation.

Democrats to focus on rebuilding after Harris loss

Harris' failure at the ballot box is a remarkable moment in a presidential race unlike any other – one that was upended by improbable events, including two failed assassination attempts against Trump.

Democrats will now turn to rebuilding its ranks on Capitol Hill and in the states, with a 2026 mid-term campaign cycle next that recent history would suggest could break in its favor. There's also now a wide-open spot for the party in 2028 when Trump will be term limited from seeking four more years in the White House. Looking ahead, several sitting governors are expected to play prominent roles for Democrats, including Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gavin Newsom of California and Wes Moore of Maryland.

For her part, Harris on Wednesday said she would remain politically engaged despite her loss in this election, noting that young people must still fight for reproductive rights, gun control, and democracy.

“On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win,” Harris said. “But here's the thing... Sometimes the fight takes a while.”

“That doesn't mean we won't win,” Harris added.

Harris entered the 2024 race a little more than 100 days before the election after Biden, 81, abruptly ended his campaign for a second term in July amid concerns he was not physically or mentally up to the challenge of serving another four years.

With the sitting president’s blessing, Democrats quickly coalesced around her candidacy, Harris secured the party’s nomination and turned her attention to Trump, who she cast as a threat to democracy and unfit for the Oval Office.

Harris campaigned on a promise she’d make middle-class Americans a priority in her administration and offered them a suite of tax breaks. She combated Trump’s claims that she was not a capitalist while campaigning on centrist economic policies and saying she'd raise taxes only on corporations and wealthy Americans.

On the 2024 campaign trial, Harris seldom mentioned the potentially groundbreaking nature of her candidacy. She instead focused often on her prior work as a prosecutor and cited her old legal cases to draw a contrast with Trump, the first former president ever to face criminal charges as well as a felony conviction on 34 counts involving hush money payments to a former porn star with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair.

Harris got her start in public service as a prosecutor in California’s Alameda County and rose quickly to become San Francisco district attorney, the state’s attorney general and a U.S. senator. She launched an ill-fated bid for the presidency in 2019 before becoming Biden’s running mate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris concedes race to Trump, Dems enter political wilderness