Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign
, the 49th vice president of the United States, announced her 2024 campaign for president on July21, 2024. On that date, incumbent president Joe Biden withdrew his re-election campaign and immediately endorsed her to replace him in his place as the party's presidential nominee. Harris officially became the nominee of the Democratic Party on August5 following a virtual roll call vote. She selected Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate the following day. The two faced off against, and were defeated by, the Republican ticket of former president Donald Trump and U.S. senator JD Vance of Ohio.
Harris's domestic platform was similar to Biden's on most issues. She supported national abortion protections, LGBT+ rights, stricter gun control, and legislation to address climate change. She also supported federal cannabis legalization, strengthening voting rights, strengthening the Affordable Care Act, and federal funding of housing. Harris departed from Biden on some economic issues, initially proposing what some described as a "populist" economic agenda. Harris advocated for limited anti-price-gouging laws for grocery and food prices, a cap on prescription drug costs, and expansion of the child tax credit. On immigration, Harris supported increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and reforming the immigration system. On foreign policy, she supported continued military aid to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars, but insisted that Israel should agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal and work towards a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
In September 2024, the campaign was bolstered by a strong performance by Harris in the presidential debate against Trump. Harris was declared the winner of the debate by many political analysts. Post-debate polls indicated a close presidential contest.
Harris lost the general election and the national popular vote to Republican former president Donald Trump on November 6, 2024; she conceded the following day. Harris lost all of the major battleground states, including the blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which were considered key to her defeat. These states all had swings from voters who had previously voted for Biden in 2020 yet went for Trump in 2024. Had Harris been elected, she would have been the first female president and the fourth from California, after Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. She would also have been the first sitting vice president to assume the presidency since George H. W. Bush. Walz would become the third vice president from Minnesota, after Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale.
Background
On January 21, 2019, Harris announced that she would run for president in the 2020 election. At the time, Harris was a U.S. senator from California. In debates, Harris was criticized by opponents over her record as Attorney General of California, including her past positions on marijuana, cash bail, and parole reform and her alleged negligence in investigating police misconduct. Harris's campaign experienced stagnant polling and fundraising struggles in November 2019. She officially withdrew from the Democratic primaries in December 2019. On March 8, 2020, she endorsed Joe Biden for president. On August 11, 2020, Harris was chosen by Biden to be his running mate. After Biden and Harris won the general election, she became the first female vice president of the United States in 2021.Biden initially sought re-election in 2024 with Harris was expected to remain as his running mate. After the June 27, 2024 presidential debate against then-presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, concerns grew about then-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Biden's age and fitness to serve a second term. Biden initially pushed back "aggressively" at the idea that he should drop out. On June28, New York magazine wrote that while most Democrats did not want Harris to replace Biden, she would be the most likely choice if he were to end his campaign. At the time, Harris had higher approval ratings than other potential Democratic contenders for the 2028 presidential election.
By July3, senior Democrats were discussing Harris as a potential replacement on the presidential ballot if Biden withdrew his candidacy. Democrats' reactions to the possibility ranged from "acceptance to trepidation to resignation". Harris defended Biden, saying that the debate "wasn't his finest hour" but adding that "the outcome of this election cannot be determined by one day in June". Nonetheless, Harris's allies began to strategize about her pathway to the 2024 Democratic nomination in the event that Biden opted to exit the race.
On July18, The Hill reported that in the next few days, Biden would make a speech about the future of his political career, and that congressional Democrats expected Harris to be the new nominee. By July19, Democrats were "quietly mapping" a Harris presidential campaign. Following pressure from Democrats, Biden ultimately withdrew from the race on July21, 2024, and immediately endorsed Harris to replace him in his place as the party's presidential nominee.
Campaign
Announcement
On July21, 2024, Harris quickly announced her own presidential campaign later that day, and the "Biden for President" campaign committee filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to change its name to "Harris for President".Democratic nominee
On July22, Harris secured enough non-binding endorsements of the uncommitted delegates that had previously been pledged to Biden to become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and officially became the party's presidential nominee after a formal roll call vote, held from August1 to August5.Vice presidential selection
Fundraising
The day Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race was announced, Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue reported raising more than $50million, its largest donation day since Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death in 2020. In the first 24 hours of Harris's candidacy, the presidential campaign raised $81million in small-dollar donations, the highest single-day total of any presidential candidate in history. By August1, ten days after the launch of the campaign, the Harris campaign raised $310million in small-dollar donations through ActBlue. Owing to strong fundraising numbers, in September, the Harris campaign directed its joint accounts to donate $25 million to down-ballot races for the House, Senate, governor, and state legislatures. By October, less than three months after entering the race, Harris' campaign and affiliated committees had raised over $1 billion, not including money donated to allied super PACs.The total raised by the Campaign notably beat Trump's $853 million raised in concert with the RNC in all of 2024. The New York Times described Harris' fundraising haul as unique, stating that "no presidential candidate is believed to have ever raised so much so fast after entering a race". It also noted that the campaign had stopped trumpeting its totals to prevent contributors from becoming complacent, and remained concerned about "billionaire-funded Republican super PACs" impacting the race.
A number of grassroots fundraising groups were established and held virtual organizing calls, including White Dudes for Harris, South Asian Women for Harris, Latinas for Harris, Native Women + Two Spirit for Harris, Women for Harris, Caribbean-Americans for Harris, Filipino Americans for Harris, Disabled Voters for Harris, Win With Black Women, Win With Black Men, and White Women: Answer the Call. In the 24 hours after announcing Walz as Harris's running mate, the campaign raised $36million. Harris and Walz held a private fundraiser at the Fairmont in San Francisco on August11; the 700 attendees raised $12million and included John Doerr, Reid Hoffman, and Tom Steyer. During the week of August12, Walz headlined a string of private fundraisers in Orange County, California; Providence, Rhode Island; Boston; Denver; and Southampton, New York. Doug Emhoff, Harris' husband, spoke at private fundraisers in the New York City area on August26 and 27, in Water Mill, North Haven and Manhattan.
Super PAC and other outside funding
supportive of Harris spent hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, outpacing the Trump's campaign support from conservative super PACs. These super PACs, in turn, raised portions of the money through donations from non-profits not required to disclose donors. This is sometimes referred to as "dark money". By late October 2024, it was estimated that Harris-aligned super PACs raised $195.8 million in comparison to the $23.2 million raised by Trump-aligned super PACs. Around the same time, the New York Post estimated the Harris campaign benefitted from $474 million in total outside spending, compared to the Trump campaign's $376 milllion in comporable spending.The official super PAC of the Campaign, Future Forward, raised $950 million by the end of the election, setting a record for money raised by an organization not affiliated with a candidate. $613 million of that sum came from Future Forward USA Action, the non-profit, dark money arm of Future Forward. 10 donations comprised $515 million of that $613 million figure Future Forward spent $450 million on ads, with half going to digital ads on platforms like YouTube. It also spent $30 million on spanish-language ads. It was reported the Campaign grew concerned with one group amassing so much capital and decision making power with regards to advertisments, and urged donors to back other groups for get-out-the-vote efforts. Later, Billy Wimsatt, Founder of Movement Voter Project, warned donors that the Campaign and Future Forward were spending too much on paid media, rather than GOTV operations and a ground game in key states.