A majority of Democratic delegates has voted to select Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee for president in a virtual roll call vote, her campaign and the Democratic Party said Friday, cementing her status at the top of the ticket heading into November.

The Democratic National Committee began the formal process for selecting the nominee on Thursday, when voting opened for the party’s more than 4,000 delegates to cast their ballots using an online form or over the phone. Harris needed to secure votes from 2,350 delegates to cross the threshold required for winning the nomination, the campaign said. The vote officially closes at 6 p.m. on Monday.

“I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates and will be the nominee of the Democratic Party following the close of voting on Monday,” Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, announced during a call with Harris’ campaign.

Harrison marked the historic nature of Harris clinching the nomination.

“Today, my friends, is special, because we can proudly say we will have the first woman of color at the top of a major party ticket,” he said.

Democrats swiftly coalesced around Harris as their candidate to take on former President Donald Trump in November after President Biden announced less than two weeks ago his withdrawal from the presidential race. Mr. Biden endorsed Harris right away, and major Democratic figures joined him in throwing their support behind the vice president.

Harris ran unopposed for the Democratic presidential nomination after Mr. Biden dropped out, and went into the virtual roll call vote with the backing of nearly all state delegations. 

The vice president’s campaign said Friday that it raised $310 million in July, a tally that includes money raised before Mr. Biden dropped out. The haul more than doubles the $139 million the Trump campaign said it raised over the same period. 

Harris has not yet announced her pick for vice president, but her campaign has vetted roughly a dozen candidates, including a number of Democratic governors. Six of those in the running have had calls this week with the campaign team vetting potential candidates, and the top contenders will meet with Harris herself this weekend, sources familiar with the plans told CBS News.

The vice president is expected to make a final decision on her running mate in the coming days, after which the two will hit the campaign trail for a series of events in crucial battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina, according to her campaign.

Harris makes history

Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, is the first Black and South Asian woman to be nominated for president in U.S history. She also made history when she was elected vice president in 2020, becoming the first woman and first Black and South Asian American to hold the job.

Glenda Carr leads Higher Heights, an organization dedicated to helping Black women run for elected office. She said Harris’ nomination changes how women of color in politics are viewed.

“We have come to a moment in our history where we are watching a time that is not historic not just for Black women but this is, you know, everyone from across the globe is watching this moment,” said Carr. “It’s not even a glass ceiling for women of color and Black women. It’s like cracking open the cement.”

Harris builds on the legacy of the late Shirley Chisolm, who was the first Black woman elected to Congress. The New York Democrat was the first woman and first African American to seek the nomination of a major party when she announced her candidacy for president in 1972.  

“This is an exciting moment about her making history,” Carr added. “It is the fact that her candidacy sets a new direction in the way that we talk about Black women’s political leadership and that is what is important in this moment.”

A ceremonial roll call is also expected to take place at the Democratic National Convention later this month.

“She has earned the right to run this race and run it in a dignified way,” DNC Convention Chair Minyon Moore told reporters ahead of the roll call vote.

contributed to this report.