WASHINGTON (AP) — Once viewed as a potential savior for the Democratic Party after Joe Biden ‘s reelection campaign stalled, Kamala Harris and her supporters are reckoning with a profound rejection by American voters in this year’s presidential election.
She is trailing in every battleground state to Donald Trump, a man she described as an existential danger to the country’s foundational institutions. And Trump appears on track to win the popular vote for the first time in his three campaigns for the White House — even after two impeachments, felony convictions and an attempt to overturn his previous election loss.
Harris has not yet conceded her loss. She’ll deliver a concession speech Wednesday at 4 p.m., her office announced. She’ll speak at Howard University, her alma mater in Washington, where her supporters watched returns Tuesday night before being sent home after midnight as Trump pulled ahead in battleground states. Her campaign did not disclose any plans to speak to Trump.
The outcome is particularly bitter for Harris because, as the sitting vice president, she is expected to oversee Congress’ ceremonial certification of the election.
It’s the same role that Mike Pence played four years ago, when Trump directed his supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol. Although critics said the violent insurrection crystallized Trump’s threat to American democracy, that ultimately did not dissuade voters from electing him again.
Harris became the Democratic candidate after Biden, who was already struggling to convince voters that he could serve as president until he was 86 years old, stumbled badly in his June 27 debate with Trump.
He dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed his vice president, who swiftly unified the Democratic Party around her candidacy.
Harris faced steep odds from the beginning. She inherited Biden’s political operation with just 107 days until the end of the election, and she faced a restless electorate that was eager for change.
Although Harris pitched “a new way forward,” she struggled to meaningfully differentiate herself from the unpopular sitting president. She also had limited time to introduce herself to skeptical voters, who never cast a ballot for her in a presidential primary.
Democrats now face the prospect of picking up the pieces during a second Trump presidency, and it’s unclear what role Harris will play in her party’s future.
