‘Almost as serious as breathing’: Philly-area Democrats celebrate Kamala Harris’ nomination at DNC watch parties

What questions do you have about the 2024 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address? Let us know.

More than 100 people packed a watch party in Philadelphia’s Manayunk section Thursday for night four of the Democratic National Convention.

Supporters cheered along at the spectacle and celebrated Vice President Kamala Harris’ shot at the White House. Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday and will run with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota.

State Sen. Art Haywood, who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, led chants throughout the evening and said he was enthused by how quickly Harris’ campaign gained support after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race last month.

“We can now change our nation for the better instead of looking back to the ‘50s,” Haywood said. “We’re going to be looking forward.”

Alina Taylor, a mother of two and a special education teacher at Cheltenham High School, drove from Upper Dublin Township in Montgomery County to show her support.

“When I was coming up, my mother went out to work, and that was huge [and] that was only 40 years ago,” Taylor said. “And for my daughters, when they go to the doctor’s office, for them not to be able to make a choice … I don’t want that for them.”

Taylor said this election is “almost as serious as breathing,” and said Harris was “the best candidate possible.”

“It just happens to be sweeter because it’s a Black woman that looks like me,” she said. “Because a lot of times when I walk into a room … I’m judged based on what they say instead of what I do or what I believe.”

‘I don’t want to go back’: Harris-Walz slogans stick at Montco DNC watch party

Closer to Taylor’s hometown, more than 100 residents, local officials and Democratic organizers flocked to the third floor of a Glenside office building to rally around the Harris-Walz ticket.

It was only a little more than a month back that Estelle Ronderos, 79, attended the Biden-Trump presidential debate night watch party sponsored by the Montgomery County Democratic Committee.

“That feeling was very sad. We were very discouraged when [Biden] came in and was drooping,” Ronderos said.

She later attended Harris’ rally at Temple University, where she introduced Walz as her running mate. Ronderos said it was a stark contrast between debate night and Harris’ entry into the race.

“It starts with her demeanor. She and Walz are just happy, exciting people. They’re not downers,” she said. “But I have always been a liberal and I do believe in the policies that the Democrats are fighting for and I don’t want to go back.”

Estelle’s husband Alvaro Ronderos, 70, said he’s been blown away by the convention speakers.

“Michelle Obama was just super and Bill Clinton had some great lines last night,” Alvaro Ronderos said. “He really put this shiv into [Republican presidential candidate Donald] Trump more than once, actually. It’s so encouraging to see Democrats actually naming him and putting him in these terrible places — that he put himself in — but calling it out and making the stakes of this election so clear.”

The Democratic couple from Plymouth Meeting said for Harris to keep this momentum, the party must conduct itself as underdogs. Alvaro Ronderos doesn’t want to be lulled into a false sense of security.

“It’s too easy to just rely on that and not put in the work, and I think it’s essential that we put in the work, knock on the doors, do the phone calls [and] talk to our friends and neighbors,” he said.

As the night waned on, some attendees left the party because they wanted to hear Harris in the intimacy of their own homes. Craig Brown, 77, said that Harris has inspired him into action.

“Next week, myself and a few other people, we’re gonna go out to certain locations in Montgomery County,” Brown said. “We’re going to pass out little hand cards about the effects of Project 2025.”

Following Harris’ speech, state Rep. Napoleon Nelson, who hosted the Glenside event, commended Harris for bringing clarity to her stance on the Israel-Hamas war through her call for a ceasefire deal. Nelson represents part of Montgomery County.

“She did what we needed her to do,” Nelson said. “She continued to reach out to all Americans. She continued to make the case that we are ready for, deserve and that she can be that responsible governing agent.”

He also noted that Harris’ explicit campaign for affordable housing makes her stand out among her predecessors.

“This is a moonshot for a generation, the opportunity now to make sure that housing affordability and access is there. I’m so happy she went for it,” Nelson said.

Local officials see down-ballot enthusiasm boost as Harris surges

Nelson intermittently took to the mic between DNC speakers, reminding voters of the down-ballot issues in the legislature. He told WHYY News that the months leading up to the election are going to be a grind.

“We’re waiting to exhale. We really, really are. We’re cheering loudly, but we’re waiting to exhale,” Nelson said.

State Rep. Greg Scott, who also represents part of Montgomery County, kicked off the evening alongside Nelson. It was his fourth stop of the night.

“Everywhere I go, people are excited,” Scott said. “They’re excited because we have a vision of hope, a vision to move our country forward and the contrast couldn’t be [more] different.”

Scott reiterated the slogan: Montgomery County is the key to the Keystone — which means that any statewide candidate that wants to win Pennsylvania must energize voters in a county of more than 860,000 residents.

He said Harris has managed to tap into that mantra, following President Joe Biden’s widely panned debate night.

“A couple weeks ago after that debate performance, things looked kind of grim, but I’m here to report today that not only are we excited because we have a new candidate, but we’ve got a big breath of candidates across the board on the bench that are ready to come up and deliver and work,” Scott said.

Harris holds a 3% lead over Trump, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. Polling from FiveThirtyEight shows Harris with a roughly 2% lead over Trump in Pennsylvania.

“But if this is a ‘vibes’ election, when the vibe from Kamala comes through that says ‘It’s okay, we got this’ — all of this enthusiasm that exists now is going to ramp up to a whole nother degree,” Nelson said.