After a turbulent summer that included public feuds between the leadership of Alabama’s Democratic Party and the Democratic National Convention, the state’s delegation arrived in Chicago this week with the common goal of nominating Kamala Harris as the country’s next president.
But under the lights of the United Center, state party chairman Randy Kelley wanted to emphasize the unity and energy within the Alabama group and the Democratic Party as a whole.
“I think we’re like any normal family — we all have our differences,” Kelley told AL.com at the DNC. “But we’re getting past our differences and we’re ready to move forward and focus on what’s important, and that’s electing Kamala Harris as president of the United States.”
Kelley had previously claimed that the Biden-Harris campaign’s decision to deny the state the right to send certain delegates was racially motivated. And state leaders protested the national party’s selection of delegates from Alabama after DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison Kelley announced that the state party had missed selection deadlines.
The conflict between the parties was clearly evident in the run-up to the party conference, including in recent reports that a DNC document said that the delegation process in Alabama was controlled by a “number of actors with bad intentions.”
Delegates AL.com spoke to emphasized the group’s determination to focus on the convention and their “excitement” about the historic opportunity to nominate Harris for president.
“I don’t think anything that happened or that is in that article has any impact today or at this convention,” said Donna Foster, who was elected as a delegate. “The way I feel about it is that we are here together, no matter what happened before… anything that may have caused division, we leave behind.”
Jamie Lowe, a 24-year-old delegate from the Third District, attended the DNC virtually as a Biden delegate in 2020.
Lowe, now chairman of the Lee County Democratic Party, said Harris’ youth and energy would strengthen the “camaraderie” of Democrats ahead of the November election.
“Age is more than just a numerical value — I think the vice president brings energy,” Lowe said. “She brings the prosecutorial focus and personality that I think Joe Biden certainly has, but it feels easy to be motivated by a candidate who speaks directly to voters with power and emphasis.”
Lowe also said that as a black and Indian-American, Harris could build a connection with Alabama voters.
According to the census, the state’s black population is about 27%. Lowe said black voters are a central part of the state’s Democratic base.
“To have another candidate who knows firsthand what it’s like to be a black and brown person, a person of color in America, is worth a lot in and of itself,” Lowe said. “I think she also understands how important it is to preserve the right to vote when she Bill by Congressman John Lewis.”
The state’s Democrats also hope that the excitement surrounding the front-runner will benefit other candidates, including Shomari Figures, who is running against Republican Caroleene Dobson for the highly regarded congressional seat in southern Alabama’s second congressional district.
Both Kelley and Foster shared Lowe’s belief that Harris was a strong candidate against former President Donald Trump and that there was a historic opportunity to nominate her for the presidency.
“We couldn’t have a better contrast to Kamala Harris than to former President Trump,” Kelley said. “She has a track record. She went from attorney general to vice president, and now we expect her to be the first female president.”
On Thursday, the Alabama delegation will join the rest of the convention in making Harris the first Black and Southeast Asian woman to be nominated as a major party’s presidential nominee.
“I’m here to make history,” Foster said. “This is an exciting time for all of us and I want to be a part of it. Not if, but when Kamala Harris wins, I want to be a part of it.”
