A six-second decision shows how Kamala Harris is snapping up delegates

Washington: It took just seconds for Lateefah Simon to signal her support for Kamala Harris as the Democratic party's nominee to run for president.

Simon, a California superdelegate to the party's convention, received a form Sunday from the state party chairman asking if she'd back Harris after President Joe Biden quit the race.

"In 6 seconds, I returned it," said Simon, an Oakland congressional candidate who worked under Harris when she was San Francisco's district attorney. "California is going to come in super strong for Kamala Harris."

Nobody opposing her

Interviews with officials in some of the most populous states indicated similar levels of enthusiasm for Harris, showing how the vice president could quickly wrap up her party's nomination. No candidate has announced plans to run against her, and an Associated Press survey found that more than 1,300 pledged delegates have said they're lining up behind Harris, more than half the total needed to clinch the spot at the top of the ticket.

Kendall Scudder, a Texas delegate and vice chair of finance for the state Democratic party, said that each of the state counterparts he's talked to plan to support Harris. Texas will send 273 delegates and superdelegates to the convention.

"Call in the dogs "- the hunt is over," he said. "Anyone who wants to run should have that opportunity, but I believe it will be a tough hill to climb because Kamala Harris is locking in grassroots support."

The delegates pledged to vote for Biden are now released to vote for whomever they want at the party convention next month in Chicago. Almost 4,000 delegates are eligible to vote in the first round at the convention, and a candidate needs support from a majority to win outright. More than 700 party members, many of them elected officials, are considered superdelegates and would only be eligible to vote if the nomination process goes to a second round.

But that seemed unlikely just a day after Biden made his historic announcement, with a plethora of lawmakers, governors and other party officials all throwing their support behind Harris.

Support from potential rivals

While some Democrats have pushed the idea that candidates other than Harris may stand a better chance at defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump, no one else has put themselves forward to run and potential rivals such as California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have committed to supporting her.

Andre Treiber, a superdelegate from Texas, circulated an open letter to state delegates Sunday in support of Harris.

The responses were "overwhelmingly in her favor," he said in an interview. "I believe anyone should be allowed to run, but that Vice President Harris is clearly winning the process."

Mark Robert Gordon, an Arizona delegate, believes Harris will clench the requisite number of commitments from delegates by Tuesday.

"I think it's coming to a consensus," Gordon said. "She will have this wrapped up."

New York state's roughly 300 Democratic delegates and superdelegates, one of the biggest contingents, are set to support Harris at the convention in Chicago next month, party Chairman Jay Jacobs said Monday.

"New York will be supporting Kamala Harris," he said in an interview. "Every indication from phone calls we've been making and receiving from all across the state is overwhelming support."

Christine Pelosi, a superdelegate from California and the daughter of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said the party would like its 496 delegates and super delegates to unify behind Harris. She said there's a conference call scheduled to shore up support.

"Kamala Harris will have a massive amount of support coming out of California," Pelosi said. "We are going to be a big chunk of that block that it takes to put her over the top."