The Tennessee Democratic Party announced Sunday that its delegation to the 2024 Democratic National Convention has agreed to support Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential nominee amid incumbent President Joe Biden’s decision to not seek reelection.
The state party’s 77 Tennessee delegates attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month were previously set to nominate Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee after he won the Tennessee Democratic Primary in March.
However, on Sunday afternoon, Biden announced that he would not seek reelection for the Democratic Party and the country’s “best interest.”
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a statement announcing his decision.
Shortly after announcing his decision, Biden released another statement endorsing Harris to be the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden said.
Harris said she was “honored” to have the president’s endorsement, adding, “My intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
Hours after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris, the Tennessee Democratic Party said that its delegates will nominate Harris at the party’s convention scheduled to begin on August 19.
“During a meeting today, the Tennessee Delegation to the 2024 Democratic National Convention voted to support [Kamala Harris] for President of the United States,” the Tennessee Democratic Party said.
Hendrell Remus (pictured above), chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, added, “We are on board and will do our part to make sure that [Kamala Harris] is our nominee. It’s time for us to unite and win this election — for nearly 4 years, VP Harris has been in the trenches with [Joe Biden] fighting for us, Tennessee is with you! Let us know when you want to visit.”
Tennessee’s Democratic Party joined a number of state parties that pledged their delegates to Harris in the mere hours after Biden ended his reelection bid, including Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Louisiana.
Harris would need a total of 1,986 delegates to officially win the nomination.
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Hendrell Remus” by Hendrell Remus and Kamala Harriss is by Kamala Harris.