Nevada Democrats have rushed to offer words of support for Vice President Kamala Harris, but the question of whether the state’s delegates will back her candidacy remains unresolved.
The state party will be meeting with delegates sometime in the next 48 hours to determine how the Nevada Democratic delegates are feeling about Harris as a candidate, according to someone with knowledge of the party who was not authorized to speak on the record.
Queries to more than a dozen delegates went unanswered Sunday; those who responded echoed their support for the vice president.
Nevada’s Democratic members of Congress have all voiced their support for Harris. Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford confirmed they will vote for her at the convention as a superdelegate if the need arises. Superdelegates do not vote in the first round at the Democratic convention.
Democratic Rep. Susie Lee and Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto’s issued statements voicing support for Harris, though their spokespeople have not returned requests on whether or not they’ll commit their superdelegate votes to Harris.
‘The choice is clear’
In a social media post Monday, Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager endorsed Harris, adding that he was “ridin’ with Biden” but is now “cruisin’ with” the vice president.
“I will be working hard each and every day to elect Democrats up and down the ticket,” the delegate’s post said.
Delegate and Nevada State Sen. Fabian Donate took to social media to endorse Harris’ nomination, adding that she could help with the crucial Latino vote.
“As an immigrant’s daughter, Kamala Harris knows the struggles our families have faced in this country,” Donate wrote in Spanish. “Now is the time that the U.S. get with the times and elect our first female president!”
Nevada delegate Matt Kimball told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday that he was “on board” with Harris, noting that she would be the first Asian American to receive the presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party.
“As an Asian American, I think that’s incredible that this country has come very far from where it started,” Kimball said.
Kimball, who has been involved with Nevada politics since 2017, and much longer before that, recalled witnessing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton give her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
“The energy in that room was incredible,” he said. “I can tell you that Chicago is going to be amazing.”
Kimball, who had supported Biden’s nomination, said that as of Monday morning, he’d only spoken to a couple of fellow delegates, but he imagined that there would be more formal meetings in the near future.
While he doesn’t know how the convention will play out, Kimball said he was positive Harris would prevail.
“I don’t think we’re going to see what happened in Chicago last cycle,” he said about the split and contentious 1968 convention there.
Kimball — a union worker — said he planned to vote for Harris at the convention, and then in November.
“The choice is clear,” he said, “Donald Trump crossed my union’s picket line (in New York) in 04. I’m never going to vote for a candidate who does that.”
Clark County Commissioner William McCurdy II, who also is a delegate, endorsed Harris on Sunday because in regards to Nevada, she “shows up, listens and she delivers.”
This election will be the most important of our lives, and I could not be more proud to endorse and work to elect Kamala Harris as our next POTUS!,” he wrote on social media.
The campaign raised $81 million in its first 24 hours since Harris announced her bid for president on Sunday, her campaign announced Monday. The $81 million will be added to the existing nearly quarter of a billion dollar war chest amassed throughout the election cycle.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.
