Vice President Kamala Harris stumps for 2024 at Black sorority convention in Indy

Vice President Kamala Harris came to Indianapolis on Thursday to thank an audience of 7,000 sorority sisters for helping elect her and President Joe Biden to the White House ― and to ask them to do it again.

The vice president of many firsts ― a woman, Black and Asian American ― received a roaring, handkerchief-waving response from the sea of women dressed in red inside the Indiana Convention Center, where the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, one of the largest historically Black sororities, was holding its 56th national convention.

"There is so much at stake in this moment," she said. "Our most basic rights and freedoms. Fact versus fiction. Foundational principles about what it means to be a democracy. And so in this moment, our nation again counts on the leaders in this room."

The Indianapolis stop is one of several she's making across the country this summer to mobilize key Democratic voting constituencies as she and Biden gear up for a 2024 reelection bid. Last weekend, she attended the Rainbow Push Coalition's convention in Chicago; later in the summer she'll attend conventions for the NAACP, Everytown for Gun Safety, and UnidosUS, a major Hispanic advocacy group.

The White House has also been making a concerted effort to improve Harris' public image in light of her low approval ratings. A recent NBC News poll found 49% of registered voters have a negative view of Harris, more than 10 percentage points worse than predecessors Mike Pence and Biden.

But Harris considered herself among family at Delta Sigma Theta's Social Action luncheon, and delivered a gleeful and optimistic speech despite dark warnings of a nation "under attack" by "extremists" on the political right. Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, another sorority that, along with Delta Sigma Theta, is part of the "Divine Nine," or the National Pan-Hellenic Council.

Delta Sigma Theta: What to know about the sorority hosting VP Kamala Harris in Indianapolis

Delta Sigma Theta's programs promote educational and economic development, political involvement, and physical and mental health. The convention drew more than 15,000 people to Indianapolis and with them an estimated economic impact of $20 million throughout the weeklong event.

Harris credited the sorority for working on voter registration and access during the pandemic, an issue that Harris has taken the mantle on during her vice presidency.

She ran through a checklist of accomplishments during her and Biden's administration thus far: capping the price of insulin, removing lead pipes to clean up drinking water, investing in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, expanding postpartum care under Medicaid, and ― she said to the most raucous applause ― appointing the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"It's a good day," she said, laughter bubbling over.

Then she turned to criticism of the actions conservative states and the Supreme Court have taken, from reversing Roe v. Wade to passing restrictions on voting to enacting legislation regulating what can and can't be taught in classrooms related to history and race. She called out Indiana, whose state lawmakers passed a near-total abortion ban last summer that's set to take effect Aug. 1.

The last time Harris visited Indianapolis was during that General Assembly special session, to meet with Democratic lawmakers inside the Indiana State Library to discuss abortion rights.

The Biden-Harris administration has little wiggle room to execute their agenda with a Republican-controlled House and a Senate that Democrats barely control, 51-49, particularly with the absence at times of two Democratic senators experiencing health issues. Harris recently tied the 191-year-old record, held by former Vice President John C. Calhoun, for casting the most tie-breaking votes in the Senate, speaking to the rigid hyper-partisanship of today's Congress.

She called upon the sorority's members to continue to mobilize voters and push for social and criminal justice reforms.

"You will continue to help lead our nation forward, and for all of that I thank you," she said. "I am also here to declare, we have more work to do."

Contact the reporter at kdwyer@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 2024 election: Kamala Harris stumps at Delta Sigma Theta convention