Maine Democratic delegates unanimously vote to endorse VP Kamala Harris

Then-Sen. Kamala Harris introduces Joe Biden at a campaign rally at Renaissance High School on March 9, 2020, in Detroit, Michigan. (Scott Olson | Getty Images)

Maine’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention voted unanimously Monday evening to back Kamala Harris as a state delegation, shoring up more support for the vice president as the party’s presidential nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew on Sunday. 

By late Monday, the Harris campaign announced enough state delegations had pledged their support for her to clinch the nomination.

“Over the next few months, I’ll be traveling across the country talking to Americans about everything on the line. I fully intend to unite our party and our nation, and defeat Donald Trump,” Harris said.

In a statement, the Maine Democratic Party said delegates “are excited to travel to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August to help share the story of the Democratic Party and to celebrate the rise of a new generation of Democratic leadership.”

The pledge from Maine’s delegation comes after several other state delegations threw their support behind Harris, following Biden’s endorsement of her as his replacement.  

When Biden dropped out, he released the delegates formerly pledged to vote for him. In Maine, there are 32 delegates and two alternates who were selected at the Democratic Party state convention in early June. Several Maine delegates said they were waiting for guidance from the state party and Maine voters before signaling who they’d now cast their nomination vote for.

The timeline for when the actual vote for a nominee will occur is currently up in the air. 

The Democratic National Committee’s Rules Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to decide whether and when the nomination process could occur via a virtual roll call ahead of the convention, which will be held Aug. 19-22. The need for a virtual roll call was triggered by deadlines in Ohio and some other states that require the political parties to have their nominee certified before or during the convention. 

Earlier this month, Maine’s Democratic delegates defended their support for Biden amid calls for him to step down after his widely criticized performance in the first presidential debate. At the time, Maine Democratic Party chair Bev Uhlenhake said the party was “tuning out the noise” regarding Biden’s candidacy.

This story was updated to include news that Kamala Harris had secured the nomination.

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