By Greg LaRose, Julie O’Donoghue and Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator

With President Joe Biden’s decision to back out of his reelection campaign, attention is turning to whether Democrats who will be delegates at next month’s party nominating convention will back his choice of Vice President Kamala Harris.

In Louisiana, Democrats are rallying behind Harris while heaping praise on Biden for decades spent in elected office. The plaudits for the president contrast with criticism he faced from many of the same officials after an abysmal debate performance against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump last month.

Randal Gaines, chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party, will lead the state delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In a phone interview, he said the party would back the vice president if she is the nominee, saying she would “energize our core voters to an unprecedented level.”

“We’ll make history and save the country at the same time,” Gaines said.

New Orleans City Councilwoman Helena Moreno, an at-large DNC delegate, posted Sunday evening on X that Louisiana delegates had voted and endorsed Harris for president.

The mounting pressure around Biden to leave the race robbed all momentum from Democrats to promote his candidacy for November, Gaines said. He and his fellow Democratic state party chairs  held a conference call at 4 p.m. Central to discuss Sunday’s developments.  

Like Gaines, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter of New Orleans is one of five automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention. In a text message, he praised Biden’s legacy and “unwavering commitment to civil rights, voting rights, and the rule of law” and elevating Justice Ketani Brown Jackson as the first African-American woman on the Supreme Court.

“His selfless decision to pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris resonates deeply,” Carter said. “I have every confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris to continue their great work.”        

State Sen. Gary Carter of Algiers, the congressman’s nephew and also an automatic delegate, said he was heartbroken that Biden dropped out of race, describing him as “a calming influence in a dangerous time.”

“I’m excited to have this opportunity to cast this historic vote for Kamala Harris,” Gary Carter said. “What a historic day.”

State Rep. Kyle Green of Marrero, one of the state party’s elected leader delegates, said he supports Harris as the Democratic nominee and endorsed the choice of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as vice president. 

“I don’t care if America is ready or not,” Green said when asked whether America was ready to support a two-woman ticket. “If not now, then when?”

Arthur Morrell, the former top elections official in New Orleans as its clerk of criminal court, is a DNC delegate representing the 2nd Congressional District. Like Biden, he is 81 years old and referred to the president as “one of my heroes.”

Morrell said he would support Harris as the nominee. 

“We know she would follow the path to keeping our country a democracy … Kamala would be an excellent leader.”

Matthew Wood, an AFL-CIO lobbyist, is a Democratic delegate from the 6th Congressional District. He said he had been behind Biden firmly but will back Harris now that the president and Gaines have endorsed her.

State Rep. Denise Marcelle of Baton Rouge, another 6th District delegate wasn’t ready to throw her support behind Harris. She’s “not against” Harris being the nominee, but she wants to hear from others in the party about who they think the best candidate would be, she said. In addition, she wants to know how Harris as a presidential nominee could impact Democrats involved in close U.S. House and Senate races.

Former state lawmaker Barbara Norris of Shreveport, an alternate DNC delegate, said she would also go along with Biden’s choice of his vice president as the nominee.

“If that is the wish of his, I’m supporting whoever he supports,” Norton said.

Former U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond, though not a delegate for the upcoming convention, has consistently been a close ally of Biden and was one of his White House advisers. In his role as co-chair of the Biden 2024 campaign, Richmond appeared Sunday morning on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” when he said the president had not lost control of the Democratic Party and fully intended to stay in the election.

In a midafternoon Sunday interview with the Illuminator, Richmond said he would support Harris as the nominee.

“President Biden does what he always does: Put his country first,” Richmond said. “He’s been the best president of my lifetime … He focused on people. Never himself.”

Another Biden campaign co-chair from Louisiana, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, voice his support for Biden in a social media post.

“The contrast in November will be clear — a distinguished prosecutor versus a convicted felon,” Landrieu wrote. “She will prosecute the case about the real risk of Donald Trump’s chaos, division, and greed while offering an optimistic vision for the future.”

Other DNC delegates made statements on social media indicating they would support the president’s pick of Harris as his successor.

This article was originally published by Louisiana Illuminator and appears here under a Creative Commons license.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: [email protected]. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and X.

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