BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Elected officials in our region are split so far on endorsing Kamala Harris for president.
Vice President Harris has raised nearly $50 million since announcing she would seek the Democratic presidential nomination. It follows President Biden’s monumental decision to step aside and not seek reelection after weeks of mounting pressure following a disastrous debate performance.
Nationally, a growing list of Democrats have thrown their support behind Harris.
In our region, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Vermont Rep. Becca Balint and New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster have offered their support to Harris. So has New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
But Vermont Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch have not endorsed the vice president so far. Neither has Vermont’s Republican governor, Phil Scott, who has said he will not vote for Donald Trump.
Sen. Welch said Sunday he’s not quite ready to endorse Harris.
“It’s really important for us as Democrats to take advantage of the extraordinary energy that’s been unleashed by the president’s decision to step aside and show that we’re confident about engaging everyday Democrats to participate in this. My view is that our nominee, in all likelihood I think Vice President Harris, is going to be strengthened by a process that’s seen as open,” said Welch, D-Vermont.
Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik did not comment on the potential of Harris being on the ballot, but in a statement, she said, in part: “The Democrat Party is in absolute freefall for their blatantly corrupt and desperate attempt to cover up the fact that Joe Biden is unfit for office.”