Kamala Harris has won the backing of some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, cementing the vice president’s status as the favorite to win the party’s nomination just hours after Joe Biden announced he would not run in the 2024 US election.
Biden’s decision came after several party leaders and donors made it clear they would back Harris, according to three people who spoke with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, George and Alex Soros and several Wall Street donors have announced their support. Harris within hours of Biden’s announcement.
“Kamala Harris is the right person at the right time,” Hoffman, who has donated more than $8.6 million to support the Biden-Harris ticket, wrote.
Brad Karp, a prominent Wall Street fundraiser and chairman of the New York-based corporate law firm Paul Weiss, quickly endorsed Harris, whom he backed during her 2020 campaign.
“Kamala Harris would be a formidable candidate and could make a great president,” Karp told the Financial Times, calling her “a dynamic and decisive leader, a bridge builder, who I believe can help unite the country, heal its divisions and help build a better future for all Americans.”
Harris has begun vetting potential running mates, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, according to two people close to the vice president. Shapiro tweeted 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 for someone like Shapiro, [Arizona senator Mark] Kelly, Beshear as VP,” said Boston-based real estate investor George Krupp, who hosted a fundraiser for Biden in May. “This is a positive development. Biden is an honorable man and he did the right thing.”
Former President Donald Trump Beating Biden’s fundraising machine in the second quarter of the year, figures released this week show. Trump-aligned fundraising groups outraised pro-Biden groups by nearly $100 million from April to June, and Biden’s fundraising performance is expected to be even worse in July.
But Harris raised more than $27.5 million in the five hours after her campaign launched on Sunday, according to fundraising platform ActBlue.
While other Democrats may be interested in running, there are still significant financial benefits to having a member of the Biden-Harris campaign on the roster, as Harris would have easy access to the coalition’s $96 million campaign fund.
Harris has received key endorsements from the Clintons, followed by the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, making it difficult for a mainstream Democrat to challenge her, said a Democratic fundraiser on the West Coast.
“For our party, that seems to have locked it in even though Obama didn’t endorse it. [Harris],” he said. “I would be really surprised and shocked if I thought there was any [other potential candidates] went out there as soon as she assembled these institutional forces. It was over. I don’t see any plausible scenario where that wouldn’t happen.”
Roger Altman, founder of investment bank Evercore and an influential fundraiser, said he thinks Harris is the Democrats’ best choice.
“President Biden made a bold decision today,” Altman said Sunday. “He has advanced the prospects of defeating Donald Trump and defending American democracy and the rule of law.”
“Harris has the political skill, talent and infrastructure to raise a lot of money and give Democrats the war chest they need to win in November,” said former Democratic finance director Clayton Cox. “You’re going to see a huge increase at every level of giving as donors rally around Vice President Harris.”
Broadway producer Mark Cortale, who co-hosted a fundraiser in Provincetown, Massachusetts on Saturday with the vice president, said watching Biden’s debate with Trump was a “nightmare” but now “I feel hopeful for the first time in weeks.”
“It’s time for Kamala Harris to become the first female president of the United States,” Cortale said. “I really believe she can do it. It’s exciting.”
Prediction markets on Sunday showed Harris as the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. But she’s starting with a lower approval rating. 39 percent – the same like Biden — according to FiveThirtyEight. National and swing-state polls have been increasingly favorable to Trump in recent weeks.
West Coast fundraisers say Harris will need to act quickly to pick a running mate.
“With 106 days to go, everyone knows it’s time to get on board,” he said. “She’ll probably announce [running mate] by the end of the week so that person can start the campaign. This is a full sprint at this point.
Some major Democratic donors also favor an open race, arguing that a swing-state governor like Shapiro or Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer would be a better choice.
“If I were a delegate today, I would prioritize Governor Whitmer,” said Stewart Bainum, a major Democratic donor and former Maryland delegate.
Venture capitalist and major Democratic donor Vinod Khosla has called for X to hold an open convention, saying that “a more moderate candidate” like Whitmer or Shapiro “would be great for America not being held hostage by the Maga extremists and [diversity, equity and inclusion] extremism”.
Reed Hastings, Netflix chairman, who gave more than $3 million to help Democrats win Congress this election, posted:“Democratic delegates need to choose a winner in a swing state.”
