Harris visits Wilmington headquarters as she takes over Biden campaign

The exact nature of Plouffe’s potential role is unclear, but some Harris allies want to add experienced officials at the top of her campaign. Plouffe ran Obama’s 2008 campaign and then served as a senior adviser in the White House during Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Neither Plouffe nor the Harris campaign responded to a request for comment.

Harris’s campaign will remain based in Biden’s hometown, and much of the campaign leadership is expected to stay in place. The vice president said Monday she asked Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair, to stay on and run her campaign, and O’Malley Dillon accepted. Harris also said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, whom Biden tapped as campaign manager, will stay on. Chavez Rodriguez is close to Harris after working in her Senate office and on her 2020 presidential race.

“I have full faith that this team … will be the reason we win in November,” Harris said.

On Monday, staffers greeted Harris and Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, with loud applause and a standing ovation. Overnight, they also hung up a California flag in homage to Harris’s home state and put up new signs to reflect the dramatic shift in their mission: “Harris for President,” “Restore Roe” and “Kamala.” But it was clear the office makeover was still underway: A Biden-Harris logo still papered over one wall.

Beyond cosmetic changes, Harris, as she moves closer to securing the Democratic nomination, will need to decide how, if at all, to shake up the campaign message and strategy that Biden and his closest aides carried out.

“We are the ones that are going to work with Vice President Harris to carry this forward,” O’Malley Dillon told staff on a call Sunday, according to a transcript obtained by The Washington Post. “And we’re going to be excited for new people to come on board.”

Exactly who those new people are remains unclear. Harris has a small team of aides within the broader Biden reelection effort who are expected to take on larger roles as she likely ascends to the top of the ticket. Sheila Nix, a longtime aide to first lady Jill Biden, serves as Harris’s chief of staff; Brian Fallon serves as her communications director; Megan Jones is a senior political adviser; and Sergio Gonzales is a senior adviser.

Some of Harris’s former aides were recently brought back into the fold ahead of her planned debate with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who was chosen last week to be former president Donald Trump’s running mate. Harris’s senior White House and campaign aides started the preparation process and brought in Karen Dunn, a Washington-based lawyer who helped prepare her in 2020 for her debate against Vice President Mike Pence; Sean Clegg, a California-based political strategist who has worked with Harris for years; and Rohini Kosoglu, a longtime Harris policy adviser who worked in her Senate and vice-presidential offices.

Minyon Moore, who is chairing the Democratic National Convention, and Donna Brazile, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, are also providing counsel to Harris and her team. Tony West, Harris’s brother-in-law who is the chief legal officer at Uber, traveled with the vice president on Monday to Delaware and has been assisting as well.

In the first 24 hours after Biden endorsed Harris, the campaign said it raised $81 million, which would amount to the largest fundraising haul in a day in presidential race history. On Sunday afternoon, Biden’s campaign committee officially changed its name from “Biden for President” to “Harris for President” with the Federal Election Commission.

“Already, we are seeing a broad and diverse coalition come together to support our critical work of talking to the voters that will decide this election,” Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for the campaign, said in a statement. “There is a groundswell behind Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump is terrified because he knows his divisive, unpopular agenda can’t stand up to the Vice President’s record and vision for the American people.”

A senior aide at Future Forward, the main super PAC that had been supporting Biden’s campaign said Monday that the group secured commitments of $150 million from donors who were previously uncertain or uncommitted to their effort. The aide spoke on the condition of anonymity to share not-yet-public fundraising numbers.

“This campaign has to go big and has to be extremely bold,” said Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina state representative who was one of the chairs of Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign. “We don’t need any of the caution that somewhat stifled 2020, and so I think she’s going to do that.”

Sellers said Harris, who struggled with a message during the 2020 campaign, has a clear contrast to run against Trump.

“There’s prosecutor vs. felon,” he said. “Hero for reproductive rights versus somebody who put three justices on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. Someone who represents the future of the country versus the oldest candidate in American political history. My question is, can someone who is 80 years old really do the job?”

Harris previewed what her new messaging may look like when she addressed her campaign staff. She contrasted her record as a prosecutor with Trump’s legal challenges, detailing her work to hold individuals accountable for sexual abuse, fraud and scams.

“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” she said before smiling and pausing for nearly 20 seconds as the staff cheered. “Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type. And in this campaign, I will proudly, I will proudly put my record against his.”

Before Harris spoke, Biden called into the meeting from Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he has been isolating since contracting the coronavirus last week. The president, touting the number of offices his campaign had opened and the number of staffers hired, vowed he would be “working like hell” to campaign for Harris.

“We’re still fighting in this fight together,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere. And I want you to know … you’ve always had my back. And I promise you, I will always have your back.”

On Sunday, Harris spent more than 10 hours on the phone in the vice president’s residence, working to shore up support among Democratic leaders for her bid. In less than 24 hours after Biden exited the race, Harris largely united elected officials and other key party leaders behind her bid, and most of the top Democrats who may have considered challenging her for the nomination have said they are backing her. No elected official has signaled they will jump in the race against Harris.

The Democratic National Committee will continue its fundraising relationships with the Harris Action Fund and Harris Victory Fund, which will raise money for both the party and Harris’s campaign, according to a recent FEC filing. The fundraising committees, which have $63 million in cash on hand, were previously named for Biden and raised money for his reelection effort.

Before Biden’s exit, Harris had a slew of campaign travel scheduled for this week. On Tuesday, she will travel to Milwaukee for a political event, and then on Wednesday, she is scheduled to address the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.’s Grand Boulé in Indianapolis. She is also expected to appear at a political fundraiser in the Berkshires on Saturday. Officials said Harris expects to keep to that schedule in the coming days.

“In the days and weeks ahead, I, together with you, will do everything in my power to unite our Democratic Party, to unite our nation and to win this election,” Harris said.

Michael Scherer and Clara Ence Morse contributed to this report.