Harris readies to certify Trump’s election win – and her decisive defeat
Kamala Harris is readying on Monday to certify the 2024 election results, affirming President-elect Trump’s victory as well as her decisive defeat to him after a whirlwind run for commander-in-chief.
After spending much of her campaign warning of Trump’s threat to democracy, Harris, in her role as vice president, will now lead the final step in the election process that will send Trump back to the White House.
She is expected to perform her duty with little fanfare but ultimately, the position puts her in an awkward spot in which her election loss will also be in the spotlight.
Harris, however, is not alone in history. Two vice presidents in recent decades have faced the same predicament — Richard Nixon who was vice president when he lost to John F. Kennedy and Al Gore when he lost to George W. Bush.
“Being put in the position of certifying an election that you lost has to be one of the most difficult and humbling experiences that you could have in public life,” said David Thomas, a Democratic strategist and former aide to Gore. “That said, I would fully expect that Vice President Harris will do her duty and perform it well.”
“Both Nixon and Gore did the same thing here, it’s one of the last things you have to do as vice president… and it’s an incredibly important function for a peaceful transition of power,” he added.
Harris recorded a video message on Monday ahead of the certification, calling the duty “a sacred obligation” and one she will “uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution, and my unwavering faith in the American people.” She also said in the message that “our democracy can be fragile.”
The vice president’s role in officiating the Electoral College count before Congress – the final step in the election process before a president takes the White House – was known for many cycles as one that was mostly uneventful and largely ceremonious.
That all changed on Jan. 6, 2021 when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to contest President Biden’s 2020 victory.
Trump’s then-vice president, Mike Pence, cemented his role in history for his actions that day.
Pence was under pressure by Trump to overturn Biden’s victory and refused. As a result, rioters storming the Capitol chanted “hang Mike Pence,” turning on Trump’s second-in-command.
The relationship between Trump and Pence, who ran for the 2024 GOP nomination, was never to be repaired, despite Pence at times seemingly defensive of his former boss on policy issues. Still, the former vice president condemned Trump’s actions and for endangering his family and others in the Capitol that day.
That riot became a staple of Biden's re-election run and later Harris’s stump speeches. Both continuously argued that Trump was a threat to democracy and shouldn’t be qualified to return to office. Harris at times agreed that Trump was a “fascist” and she delivered her closing argument of the campaign from the Ellipse near the White House, the same place where Trump spoke to supporters the morning of Jan. 6, 2021.
But that messaging fell short with the American electorate. Trump won November’s election, decisively beating Harris in both the Electoral College and the popular vote.
Harris has hardly been seen in public since her election loss. She has given two major speeches, including her concession speech at Howard University. She’s made a few appearances around Washington but overall has stayed out of the limelight.
A former Harris aide said she doesn’t see Monday’s certification as a “pity party.”
“Vice President Harris has made it clear to her team and supporters that it’s not time for a pity party. As she’s said: the fight continues. Certifying the election results is a part of keeping our democracy intact — and we’ve all heard her speak about how important that is,” the former aide said.
Biden, when he was vice president, certified Trump’s 2016 victory in the same ceremonious fashion. A few Democrats attempted to contest that count, but Biden eventually told them there was no point to do so after the resounding defeat of then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
In 2001, as Gore was certifying Bush’s win, he had to gavel down a handful of Democrats who voiced their objection after he won the popular vote but lost the election. That race resulted in a historic recount that was eventually decided by the Supreme Court.
Paul Thornell, Gore’s former congressional liaison who was with him the day of the count, told The Hill that “one of the profound kind of moments that I came to admire from that day is he had to discourage people from extending the process.”
“He did it with a smile on his face,” said Thornell, a partner at Mehlman Consulting. “The image I have in my head of him that day was — there was some point where he basically had to gavel the person down. And he started to and they continued speaking, and he stopped, and put his hands to his heart, nodded toward them, as if to say, ‘thank you.’”
Gore never ran for political office again.
When Nixon in 1961 announced from the Speaker pro tempe chair that Kennedy won the previous November, he took the opportunity to make a statement, calling the situation an example of the stability of the Constitution.
“This is the first time in 100 years that a candidate for the presidency announced the results of an election in which he was defeated and announced the victory of his opponent,” Nixon said. “
“I do not think that we could have a more striking and eloquent example of the stability of our Constitutional system and of the proud tradition of the American people of developing and respecting and honoring institutions of self-government,” he said.
Nixon went on to win the presidency eight years later and later left office in disgrace following the Watergate scandal.
For Harris, 60, questions have swirled over what role she could have next in politics. A run for California governor in 2026 has sometimes been floated in political circles and is often mentioned among Democrats as a top option for her.
“I imagine she'd be a very formidable candidate for governor in California, which would be exciting for her… that's a pretty powerful perch. It’s not the presidency, but it’s the biggest state in the country. And that would be an exciting prize for her to go after,” a longtime Democratic donor and bundler said.
A Puck News/Echelon Insights poll released after the election found that Harris was Democrats’ top choice to be their party’s 2028 presidential nominee, with 41 percent of likely Democratic voters would vote for her.
While Harris has spent considerable time in Los Angeles and some time in Hawaii since November’s elections, she’s also made sporadic appearances around Washington. On Friday, she was at the Capitol to swear in new senators on the first day of the new Congress.
Meanwhile, Democrats are working to rebuild the party in the wake of not only her loss, but Republicans gaining control of the Senate and maintaining House control.
They’re faced with figuring out not only what went wrong in 2024, but also how to move forward and who the faces of the future party will be.
Democrats think Harris should be a part of that rebuilding process.
“She has every right to participate in any way she wants to try to participate,” the Democratic donor and bundler said. “She’s clearly a leader in our party.”