Sharing a laugh and now the 413’s delegates. (via Twitter/@JoeBiden)

Democratic Party politics and the presidential contest experienced upheaval Sunday when President Joe Biden announced he would decline the nomination for president at the party’s national convention next month in Chicago. Biden immediately turned to his vice president, Kamala Harris, who has already won the support of delegates who will represent the 413 in the Windy City.

Technically, with Biden out, the convention defaulted to a nominal open contest. However, other would-be candidates signaled they would not challenge Harris. She quickly took over Biden’s campaign and consolidated support. Meanwhile, convention delegates from Western Mass joined colleagues from across the state Monday night to back Harris.

Within hours of Harris becoming the apparent standard bearer for the Democratic Party, Western Mass  elected officials who are also delegates began backing her. Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren released enthusiastic statements of support. Worcester Congressman James McGovern, whose district includes Franklin and Hampshire counties’ population centers, also backed Harris Sunday.

Governor Maura Healey and Springfield Congressman Richard Neal announced they were getting behind Harris Monday.

“I’ve known her for a period of time. I think that she’s consistent with a quality candidate,” Neal said at a press conference Monday. He cited her time as a US Senator from California and as a prosecutor as assets in the race.

Healey urged delegates to swing to Harris. They did.(WMP&I)

Healey and Harris had been attorneys general for their respective states for two of the same years before the latter’s 2016 election to the US Senate. Although she did not reference this in her endorsement statement, Healey alluded to the threats Trump poses, many of which she tried to resist in court.

“Kamala Harris is the best person to make the case against Donald Trump,” Healey said. “Trump is coming after our rights and our freedoms. And he will jack up costs on the middle class by gutting Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act.”

Biden stepped down amid crumbling Democratic support after a wretched debate performance on June 27. There is an argument his ostensibly deficits due to age would not themselves make victory impossible. However, the ensuing political storm greatly inhibited Democrats’ ability to rally the troops and deliver the votes necessary to win.

In stepping back, Democrats and even some  Republicans have showered Biden with praise for his 50 years of public service. His decision to step back immediately earned plaudits as “selfless” for the good of the country. It also set up an immediate contrast to Trump’s lurch toward a second term Biden had originally denied the Republican.

The automatic delegates—elected officials and high-ranking party officers—could vote for whomever they wanted. District-based and at-large delegates had been pledged to Biden. He won the Democratic primary in March overwhelmingly. This entitled him to all at-large delegates and nearly all delegates from congressional districts.

The state party’s vice-chair Deb Kozikowski lives in Chicopee and is also automatically a delegate to the convention. She, too, has announced her support for Harris.

Both McGovern and Neal’s districts have six delegates each, but it appears only Neal’s district has delegates from the 413. They are state committee member Bruce Adams, state committee member and former Longmeadow Democratic Town Committee Chair Candy Glazer, Springfield State Senator Adam Gomez, Lawrence Harrison, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle and Dalton Democratic Town Committee Chair Michele Marantz.

The 1^st District delegates were elected at an uncontested caucus in April. WMP&I Editor-in-chief Matt Szafranski participated as an enrolled Democrat.

The at-large delegates include two from the region, Springfield state committee member Gillian Hickson and Kristen Elechko of Northampton, who runs Healey’s Western Mass office. Another group of at-large delegates, reserved for local officials and party leaders, includes Hampshire Register of Deeds Mary Olberding and retire labor leader and lifetime state committee member Ed Collins.

The 413’s delegates will be here next month. (via Wikipedia)

Monday night, the Massachusetts Democratic Party announced that delegates voted overwhelmingly to back Harris. The party did not provide a roll call, but there was not any immediate hint of dissent. However, The Washington Post, using data from the Associated Press, indicates that all Massachusetts delegates will got to Harris. Multiple outlet have reported Harris has cleared the threshold to receive the nomination in Chicago.

What had originally been an opportunity for Biden to have the convention party the coronavirus had denied him in 2020 will now be a changing of the guard. Nonetheless, t’s a fact that was clearly on many Bay State Dems’ minds as they moved to seal Harris’ nomination.

“We all owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Joe Biden for his lifetime of service to the people of our nation,” said Steve Kerrigan, the state party chair in a statement. “When he stepped down, he ensured we had a clear leader who would unify the party in working towards success up and down the ballot this November. We enthusiastically join President Joe Biden in endorsing Kamala Harris for President.”