Kamala Harris Debuts Presidential Candidate Campaign In Wisconsin

JAKARTA - Vice President of the United States (US) Kamala Harris will campaign in the state of Wisconsin, which is an important battleground for the first time as a presidential candidate on Tuesday, July 23.

Harris quickly emerged as a Democratic candidate after President Joe Biden (81) canceled his re-election campaign on Sunday, July 21, following weeks of increasing pressure from his own party members worried about his ability to defeat former President Donald Trump.

Less than 36 hours after Biden backed Harris, he was nominated for the nomination on Monday, July 22 evening by winning a pledge from a majority of delegates at next month's party convention to determine the nomination, the campaign team said.

"I am proud to have had the broad support needed to become a candidate for our party," Harris said in a statement.

"I hope to receive an official nomination soon," he continued.

An unofficial survey of delegates conducted by the Associated Press shows Harris has more than 2,500 delegates, far exceeding the 1,976 required to win votes in the coming weeks.

The delegates could still change their minds, but no one else got a vote in the AP survey; 54 delegates said they were hesitant.

Harris's rise dramatically changed elections where many voters were dissatisfied with their choice.

Burdened with various concerns, including its health and continued oil prices disrupting American household finances, Biden has lost to Trump in polls, particularly in competitive states, known as swing states, which will most likely determine elections, including Wisconsin and the Sun Belt region in Arizona and Nevada.

Events in Wisconsin offer Harris another chance, the first black woman and an American citizen of Asian descent to serve as vice president, to reorganize the Democratic Party campaign. He is scheduled to speak in Milwaukee at 1 p.m., Tuesday, July 23 local time.

Harris, 59, gave an overview of his plans to attack Trump on Monday, referring to his past in pursuing predator' and confessor' as San Francisco's regional prosecutor and California attorney general.

"So listen to me when I say: I know the type of Donald Trump," he said of his rival, who has a crime penalty and is found responsible for sexual harassment in a civil court.

As senior Democrats supported Harris, the Black Lives Matter racial justice group on Tuesday challenged the party's quick move.

They called for a nationwide virtual preliminary election ahead of the Democratic National Convention on August 19-22 in Chicago, where the party will officially nominate its candidate.

"We call on the regulatory Committee to create a process that allows public participation in the nomination process, not just nominations by party delegates," Black Lives Matter said in a statement to Reuters.

"This moment requires firm action to protect the integrity of our democracy and the voice of black voters," he added.