Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to a crowd during a campaign event at James B. Dudley High School on July 11, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
As Democratic officials and party leaders nationwide line up behind Vice President Kamala Harris for their party’s presidential nominee, Rhode Island’s Democratic delegates remain tight-lipped about who they are backing as a group.
But not for long.
The 35 elected and appointed delegates chosen to represent the Ocean State at next month’s Democratic National Convention are scheduled to meet Wednesday night to vote on their endorsement for party nominee, Liz Beretta-Perik, chairwoman of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, said in an interview Monday afternoon.
While Beretta-Perik publicly threw her weight behind Harris in a statement Sunday night, she opted not to hold a vote among Rhode Island’s Democratic delegates during an impromptu meeting that same night.
“We thought it was appropriate for everyone to take a few days just to think about how they wanted to cast their vote,” Beretta-Perik said. “It’s a very important vote, and it was so sudden.”
Indeed, the single-sentence “good conscience clause” within the Rhode Island Democratic Party’s 70-page delegate selection plan has never before been used in Beretta-Perik’s knowledge. Like states nationwide, Rhode Island is relying upon this clause to release its delegates from backing President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention, instead freeing them to support whoever “in all good conscience reflects the sentiments of those who elected them.”
Despite near-constant communication with national party leaders, Beretta-Perik was as shocked as the rest of the country when Biden announced he was dropping out Sunday afternoon and backing Harris as the nominee.
Not that the whiplash-inducing news slowed the reaction among Rhode Island officials, many of whom quickly rallied behind Harris.
“I believe when historians look back on July 21, 2024, it will be the day that the glass ceiling didn’t just crack, but collapsed as Kamala Harris took the step that will lead her to the Oval Office as our First Woman President,” Beretta-Perik said in a statement Sunday night.
At least five other Democratic state delegates have publicly endorsed Harris: U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Reps. Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo, State Sen. Pam Lauria, and Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore.
But so far, Gov. Dan McKee and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed have not publicly endorsed a new presidential nominee as of Monday afternoon. Neither office immediately responded to inquiries for comment.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island’s only uncommitted delegate, June Rose, has made it clear they won’t rubber stamp Harris without a commitment to ending the Israel-Hamas war.
“I am open to endorsing Vice President Harris but for now I am staying uncommitted,” Rose said in an interview Monday. “I am waiting to see if she can meaningfully differentiate her policy position on the war in Gaza.”
Rose hopes to join forces with the 35 other delegates representing uncommitted voters nationwide to apply pressure at the convention in Chicago next month. But the Democratic National Committee may still be looking to coronate its nominee virtually, with a meeting scheduled Wednesday to discuss the possibility.
While party officials say a virtual nomination prior to the convention is necessary to meet certification deadlines in Ohio and other states, Rose was unconvinced.
“The notion of the virtual roll call stays ridiculous,” Rose said. “In a time when Democrats are under such scrutiny, why not do everything the most democratic, above-board way possible?”
The Rhode Island Democratic Party issued a statement last week also stating its preference for an in-person nomination.
We thought it was appropriate for everyone to take a few days just to think about how they wanted to cast their vote. It’s a very important vote, and it was so sudden.
– Liz Beretta-Perik, chairwoman of the Rhode Island Democratic Party
Rep. June Speakman, a Warren Democrat and one of the state’s Democratic delegates who also serves as the state’s representative on the DNC Rules Committee, said the preference for nominating in-person has not changed with Biden dropping out.
“The convention has always been after these state ballot access dates,” she said. “I want to go to Chicago and have an in-person roll call the way it’s always been done.”
Though Speakman has not publicly endorsed Harris, she told Rhode Island Current Monday that she personally supported the vice president as the new nominee. Like many Rhode Island delegates, Speakman had stayed silent in recent weeks amid intensifying calls for Biden to drop out.
Beretta-Perik asked delegates in a series of internal messages obtained by Rhode Island Current to “refrain” from talking to the media, including after the Sunday night meeting. Speakman said she never felt silenced by Beretta-Perik; instead, her decision to keep mum was a personal one reflecting the ever-shifting sands beneath the party nationally.
“Everything has felt so uncertain,” she said. “Do you want, as a Democrat, to withdraw your support from the president? No. Many of us were having conversations with ourselves and with each other. I didn’t feel comfortable personally talking to the media.”
Speakman named Biden’s performance in the June 27 debate as the point when doubt began to creep in.
“Age has always been a factor, but the debate really raised concern in my mind about President Biden’s ability to serve four more years,” she said.
His decision to step down was a “relief,” Speakman said, but also elicited a pang of sadness.
“He is the best president we’ve had since FDR, maybe ever,” she said, pointing to Biden’s record on policies such as student loan forgiveness, relief for working families and environmental protections.
Harris offers an equally inspiring opportunity to set a new record as the first woman president, a historic moment not lost on Speakman or Beretta-Perik.
“This is an election about women, and now we have a woman at the top of the ticket,” Beretta-Perik said.
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