Democrats quickly coalesce around Harris, smoothing path to nomination

Vice President Kamala Harris has been quickly consolidating support around her presidential candidacy, with seemingly all of her major potential rivals for the nomination rallying around her less than 24 hours after President Joe Biden announced he was bowing out.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer formally endorsed Harris in statements Monday morning, joining a long list of other Democrats known to harbor national ambitions who came out for Harris on Sunday, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

And moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., announced he would not be seeking the nominating himself, which he had been considering just a day earlier.

It's now unclear if anyone will even challenge Harris for the Democratic nomination ahead of next month's convention in Chicago, let alone pose a real threat to her.

Statements of support for Harris have been streaming in from seemingly every corner of the sprawling Democratic coalition, with no obvious pockets of opposition emerging so far.

State delegations to the Democratic National Convention came out in droves for Harris after holding emergency meetings and internal votes in the hours after Biden dropped out.

Harris' nomination now seems so assured that Democrats have moved on to speculating about who might be her running mate.

Behind-the-scenes jockeying for the second spot began almost immediately, with potential candidates eager to do what they can to show their support for Harris.

Later Monday morning, the vice president was scheduled to make her first remarks since Biden dropped out and she declared her intention to run.