Kamala Harris has secured the backing of some of the Democrats’ biggest donors, strengthening the vice-president’s position as the favourite to win the party’s nomination after Joe Biden announced he would drop out of the presidential race.
Biden’s decision came after several party leaders and donors made it clear that they would rally behind Harris, said three people who had spoken to Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear also said on Monday morning he fully endorsed Harris for the party’s nomination, adding it was “flattering” to be discussed as a potential vice-presidential candidate.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, George and Alex Soros and several Wall Street donors declared their support for Harris within hours of Biden’s announcement.
“Kamala Harris is the right person at the right time,” wrote Hoffman, who had given more than $8.6mn to boost the Biden-Harris ticket.
Brad Karp, a prominent Wall Street fundraiser and chair of the New York-based corporate law firm Paul Weiss, swiftly endorsed Harris, whom he backed during her 2020 run.
“Kamala Harris would be a formidable nominee and make a superb president,” Karp told the Financial Times, calling her “a dynamic and decisive leader and a bridge builder, who I believe could help unite our country, heal our divisions and help forge a better future for all Americans”.
The support from donors came just hours after Biden conceded to a weeks-long pressure campaign from inside the party to leave the 2024 presidential race over concerns about his age.
Shortly after announcing his decision on Sunday, Biden endorsed Harris as the new nominee.
In the aftermath of his move, the dollar and US Treasury yields edged lower on Monday as investors reassessed so-called Trump trades — bets on equities and bonds based on a possible Republican victory in November.
Harris’s bid for the nomination, which will be decided at the Democratic National Convention in August, was strengthened after California governor Gavin Newsom, who was high on the list of potential Biden successors, backed her on Sunday evening.
According to three prominent Democratic party donors and operatives with direct knowledge of the matter, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, another possible challenger, is also expected to endorse Harris.
Harris had already started vetting potential running mates, including Beshear and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, according to two people close to the vice-president.
Shapiro tweeted on Sunday that he would “do everything I can to help elect @KamalaHarris as the 47th President of the United States”.
“Kamala Harris is the easiest choice with someone like Shapiro, [Arizona senator Mark] Kelly, Beshear as VP,” said Boston-based real estate investor George Krupp, who hosted a Biden fundraiser in May. “This is a positive development. Biden is an honourable man and he did the right thing.”
Former president Donald Trump beat Biden’s fundraising machine in the second quarter of the year, figures released this week showed. Trump-aligned fundraising groups outraised Biden-supporting groups by almost $100mn between April and June, and Biden’s fundraising was expected to be even worse in July.
But Harris raised more than $46.7mn in the seven hours after her campaign launch Sunday — more than the 2024 Biden-Harris campaign ever raised in one day, according to fundraising platform ActBlue.
While other Democrats might be interested in running, there are important financial benefits to having one member of the Biden-Harris campaign remain on the ticket, as Harris would have easy access to its $96mn war chest.
Harris secured key endorsements from the Clintons, followed by the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, making it unlikely that a mainstream Democrat would challenge her, said a west coast Democratic fundraiser.
However Barack Obama’s statement on Biden’s decision to drop out of the race on Sunday made no mention of Harris.
“With our party, that kind of locks it down even though Obama didn’t endorse [Harris],” he said. “I would be really surprised and shocked I think if any [other potential candidates] went out there now after she’s marshalled these institutional forces. It’s over. I don’t see any reasonable scenario in which it’s not done.”
Roger Altman, founder of investment bank Evercore and an influential fundraiser, said he thought Harris was the Democrats’ best option.
“President Biden made a courageous decision today,” said Altman on Sunday. “He boosted the prospect of defeating Donald Trump and preserving American democracy and the rule of law.”
Former Democratic party finance director Clayton Cox said: “Harris has the political skill, talent and the infrastructure to raise a ton of money and give Democrats the war chest needed to win in November. You will see a huge uptick at all levels of giving as donors rally around vice-president Harris.”
Broadway producer Mark Cortale, who co-hosted a fundraiser in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Saturday featuring the vice-president, said watching Biden’s debate with Trump had been like a “bad dream” but now “I feel hope for the first time in weeks”.
“It is time for Kamala Harris to become the first female president of the United States,” Cortale said. “I really believe she can do it. This is thrilling.”
Prediction markets on Sunday showed Harris as the clear favourite to win the Democratic nomination. However, she is starting with an approval rating below 39 per cent — the same as Biden’s — according to FiveThirtyEight. National and swing state polls have increasingly favoured Trump in recent weeks.
Harris will need to move swiftly to choose a running mate, the west coast fundraiser said.
“With 106 days to go, everybody knows it’s time to get on board,” he said. “She probably announces her [running mate] by the end of the week so that person can begin campaigning. It’s a full-on sprint at this point.”
Some major Democratic donors also favour an open race and think that a swing state governor such as Shapiro or Whitmer would be a better pick.
“If I were a delegate today, I would have a preference for Governor Whitmer,” said Stewart Bainum, a Democratic megadonor and former Maryland delegate.
Venture capitalist and big Democratic donor Vinod Khosla called on X for an open convention, saying “a more moderate candidate” such as Shapiro “would be a great thing for America not held hostage between Maga extremists and [diversity, equity and inclusion] extremism”.
Reed Hastings, the Netflix chair who has given more than $3mn to help Democrats take Congress this election cycle, posted: “Dem delegates need to pick a swing state winner.”
Additional reporting by Lauren Fedor and Steff Chávez
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