The Harris campaign’s chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said that she did not expect a quick resolution to the race as she remained optimistic that vice president Kamala Harris still has a path to victory, reports CNN.
She made the statement to the staffers in an email on early Wednesday (Bangladesh Standard Time).
While the email did not foreclose any pathways to 270 electoral votes, O’Malley Dillon placed heavy emphasis on the “Blue Wall” of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — always viewed by the campaign as the likeliest path to victory — rather than Sun Belt states like Arizona.
“The closeness of the race is exactly what we prepared for,” she wrote. “While we continue to see data trickle in from the Sun Belt states, we have known all along that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes lies through the Blue Wall states. And we feel good about what we’re seeing.”
She cited outstanding vote totals from metro areas in each of the states — including Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee — and suggested the campaign had seen high turnout that could tilt the race in her favor.
She said the results were unlikely to be known until hours from now.
“We’ve been saying for weeks that this race might not be called tonight. Those of you who were around in 2020 know this well: It takes time for all the votes to be counted – and all the votes will be counted. That’s how our system works. What we do know is this race is not going to come into focus until the early morning hours,” she wrote.
“This is what we’ve been built for, so let’s finish up what we have in front of us tonight, get some sleep, and get ready to close out strong tomorrow,” she told the Harris campaign team.
The Harris campaign has long been least bullish on Arizona among the battlegrounds, an adviser tells the media, even as the campaign remains hopeful that a slim pathway to secure all seven battleground states remains.
Bd-Pratidin English/ Afsar Munna
