Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Within hours of President Joe Biden dropping his re-election bid and endorsing Kamala Harris for President, the party appears to be coalescing around Harris, with no serious challengers in sight.
Jeremy Zellner, Erie County Democratic Party Chairman, who is also an elected Biden delegate, was one of the first locally to endorse Vice President Harris for President of the United States.
At 9 p.m. ET on Sunday night, Zellner released a statement, which read in part:
"I am excited to join Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs and so many others in endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. She is an individual of great integrity, intelligence, and capacity for leadership and compassion, as she demonstrated during her visit to Buffalo following the 2022 Tops shooting."
Zellner will be leading the Western New York delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.
"We have 50 state Democratic Party chairs [in the state] who have endorsed her already," Zellner told WBEN on Monday. "As of last night she had raised $48 million since Biden's announcement.
"There's a lot of energy to defeat Donald Trump in the fall."
Is Harris the candidate who could best defeat Trump, or, is she the easiest candidate to nominate at the present time? Zellner was emphatic.
"She is the best candidate. She has run on the ticket with Joe Biden all along. She has raised money with Joe Biden," he said.
Is there something undemocratic about the Democrat Party overruling the votes of 14 million Americans in the Primary?
"Those 14 million Americans voted for Kamala Harris to be on the ticket," he said. "Everyone knew when they voted in 2020 that she could end up being the President some day."
A growing chorus of Republicans say the 81-year-old Biden is not fit to continue serving. They are calling for him to resign the Presidency as well.
"I think that's ridiculous to ask that question," said Zellner. "He's fit for the office. He's making tough decisions, and he's running this country everyday in a very good way."