WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Indiana haven’t supported a Democratic presidential candidate in almost 16 years. Nonetheless, Vice President Kamala Harris paid a visit to the reliably Republican state on Wednesday to address a demographic she hopes will show up for her in large numbers in November: women of color.
Just three days after launching her presidential campaign following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, Harris is scheduled to speak at the biennial conference of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta in Indianapolis.
It’s a significant moment for Harris, a woman of Black and South Asian heritage, to connect with a group already energized by her groundbreaking status as the presumed Democratic nominee, and one that her campaign aims to expand its support base. In a memo released on Wednesday, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon highlighted the importance of backing from female, nonwhite, and younger voters for their success.
“Where Vice President Harris goes, grassroots enthusiasm follows,” O’Malley Dillon wrote. “This campaign will be close, it will be hard fought, but Vice President Harris is in a position of strength — and she’s going to win.”
Despite this, Democrats are facing challenges as the nation grapples with frustrations over rising prices due to inflation, while former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, recently survived an assassination attempt that further energized his already devoted supporters. However, the memo expressed more optimism compared to the narrow path the campaign saw after the 81-year-old Biden’s disastrous debate performance in June.
While the campaign will continue to focus on the key Blue Wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania to secure the necessary 270 electoral votes, Harris is aiming to be competitive in North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.
Trump has traditionally garnered more support from white voters without a college degree. AP VoteCast data, a detailed survey of voters and nonvoters aiming to provide context behind election results, showed that this demographic made up 43% of all voters in 2020, with Trump winning them by a margin of 62% to 37%, despite ultimately losing the election.
For Democrats, Black women could be crucial in November, and Harris has already shown signs of rallying their support.
In the 2020 election, AP VoteCast revealed that Black women comprised just 7% of the electorate, with 93% of them voting for Biden, contributing to his narrow victories in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
Following Harris’s campaign announcement, approximately 90,000 Black women joined a video call on Sunday night to show support for the Howard University alumna and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sister who has chosen Beyonce’s “Freedom” as her walk-on music at events.
After her visit to Indiana, Harris will head to Houston to address the national convention of the American Federation of Teachers, who have endorsed her candidacy.
This story has been corrected to clarify that the sorority meets biennially, not annually.
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