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As It Happened July 25, 6:19 p.m. ET
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Kamala Harris' first ad features footage from Philly visit; Harris is polling better in Pa. than Biden did

Meanwhile, Harris is considering several candidates to be her VP nominee, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Vice President Kamala Harris, seen here last week in North Carolina, is traveling to Houston Thursday to speak at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th national convention.
Vice President Kamala Harris, seen here last week in North Carolina, is traveling to Houston Thursday to speak at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th national convention.Read more
Cornell Watson / Cornell Watson/for The Washington Post
Election 2024 updates
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  1. President Joe Biden explained his decision to drop out of the 2024 election in an address to the nation Wednesday night.

  2. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris, but not about becoming her vice presidential nominee. Here's what would happen in Pennsylvania if he becomes Harris' running mate.

  3. Fox News is proposing a debate in Pennsylvania between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Sept. 17, though the network is open to a different date. Here's what we know about the upcoming debates.

  4. Harris is polling better in Pennsylvania than Biden did, but is still trailing Trump here and nationwide, according to an analysis of recent polls.

July 25, 6:19 p.m. ET
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Did Gerald Ford see this coming 35 years ago?

Former President Gerald Ford predicted 35 years ago that a woman would become president under circumstances that bear some similarity to those unfolding in 2024.

At a forum in Iowa, a schoolgirl asked him what advice he night offer to a “young lady” who aspired to the presidency.

July 25, 5:45 p.m. ET
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Public education advocates are pushing against Josh Shapiro as Harris’ VP pick because he supports school vouchers

A network of more than two dozen public education advocacy groups from across the country published a letter Wednesday night urging Vice President Kamala Harris not to select Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate because of his support for private school vouchers.

School vouchers, which provide parents with state funding to send children to private schools, are an issue on which Shapiro has agreed to compromise with Republicans since becoming governor.

July 25, 5:15 p.m. ET
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Would Josh Shapiro’s stances on Israel help or hurt Kamala Harris’ ticket?

Two days after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro took the stage at a rally in Wynnewood, a Jewish stronghold in his home Montgomery County, and vowed to be a champion for Israel.

“This is not a moment to retreat from who we are, but to be proud of who we are,” Shapiro, the third Jewish governor in the commonwealth’s history, told the crowd of more than 1,000 after the attack killed roughly 1,200 people.

July 25, 3:54 p.m. ET
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Gabby Giffords campaigns for Harris in Philly amid talk of her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly, being a potential running mate

Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords visited Philadelphia to campaign on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday, as the vice president is said to be vetting Gifford’s husband, Sen. Mark Kelly, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as potential running mates.

Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, spoke about gun policy alongside Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, who has been a fierce advocate of Shapiro as a vice presidential candidate.

July 25, 3:22 p.m. ET
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Working Families Party endorses Harris as Democratic nominee

The Working Families Party "overwhelmingly" endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee Thursday, wrote WFP national director Maurice Mitchell in a statement.

In total, 95% of members, chapters, and party leaders voted to back Harris as "a historic opportunity to stop Trump's authoritarian movement in its tracks," Mitchell wrote.

July 25, 2:14 p.m. ET
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In Houston, Harris recalls meeting Philly teacher helped by student loan forgiveness program

Vice President Kamala Harris continued on her pursuit of the presidency, speaking to the American Federation of Teachers — the first union to officially endorse her candidacy — in Houston on Thursday afternoon.

Harris, who called herself a “proud product of public education” continued to capitalize on the forward-looking nature of her campaigning having coined the phrase “We are not going back” in recent campaign speeches. “One [vision is] focused on the future and the other [is] focused on the past and we are fighting for the future,” Harris said to the crowd during her half-hour speech.

July 25, 2:00 p.m. ET
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Harris' first campaign ad shows footage from recent Philly rally

Vice President Kamala Harris' first campaign ad features footage from a recent rally held in Philadelphia's Fairmount neighborhood.

Released on social media Thursday, the ad showcases Harris' stop at Girard College with President Joe Biden back in May. The rally served as a kickoff for President Joe Biden's "Black Voters for Biden-Harris" effort, which itself came amid polling indicating an erosion of the president's support among nonwhite voters throughout Pennsylvania.

July 25, 1:25 p.m. ET
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Pa. representative rails against Trump tax cuts in DNC call with union leaders

U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D., Pa.) was the first to speak on a DNC-hosted call with union leaders organized to contrast a potential Kamala Harris presidency with a Trump-Vance ticket.

“The Biden-Harris administration has been the most pro-worker administration in my lifetime,” Deluzio said. “I know if we get Kamala Harris to the White House, we can continue this vision that President Biden has been leading on.”

July 25, 12:18 p.m. ET
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Govs. Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer will campaign for Kamala Harris in Pa.

Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris at an event in Pennsylvania on Monday.

It will be the first time Shapiro, who is widely considered to be on Harris’ shortlist of running mates, has campaigned for Harris since President Joe Biden exited the race and she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

July 25, 10:00 a.m. ET
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Harris taps Beyoncé track for campaign

It looks like "Freedom" from Beyoncé's 2016 album, Lemonade is the soundtrack of Kamala Harris' presidential campaign so far.

For her first public appearance on Monday, a day after President Joe Biden’s endorsement, Harris walked through her Delaware campaign headquarters to speak with staff as the Beyoncé track played.

July 25, 7:30 a.m. ET
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Kamala Harris will campaign in Houston Thursday

Following stops in Milwaukee and Indianapolis this week, Vice President Kamala Harris will appear in Houston Thursday to give a keynote speech at a teachers’ union event.

Harris is scheduled to speak at the American Federation of Teachers’ national convention in Houston as part of what will be her second visit to Texas this month, the White House said. Previously, she appeared in Dallas earlier this month for a keynote speech at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.’s Boulé event.

July 25, 7:10 a.m. ET
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Kamala Harris is polling better in Pennsylvania than Joe Biden did

Vice President Kamala Harris was polling better than President Joe Biden in the battleground state of Pennsylvania before Biden ended his reelection campaign and Harris became the presumptive nominee.

However, she has not yet caught up to former President Donald Trump nationwide since she received Biden’s endorsement, according to The New York Times’ average of recent national polls.

July 25, 7:05 a.m. ET
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Donald Trump mispronounced Kamala Harris' name repeatedly in attack-filled speech

Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of attack lines Wednesday against his likely new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he called his “new victim to defeat” and accused of deceiving the public about President Joe Biden ‘s ability to run for a second term.

The rally in Charlotte, North Carolina marked his first public campaign event since Biden dropped out of the 2024 matchup and Harris became the Democrats’ likely nominee. The rally concluded minutes before Biden addressed the nation to explain he dropped his reelection bid to “pass the torch” to Harris, who is 22 years younger than him.

July 25, 7:00 a.m. ET
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Joe Biden explains why he dropped out of 2024 race in solemn White House address

President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country’s democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.

Insisting that “the defense of democracy is more important than any title,” Biden used his first public address since his announcement Sunday that he was stepping aside to deliver an implicit repudiation of former President Donald Trump. He did not directly call out Trump, whom he has called an existential threat to democracy. The 10-minute address also gave Biden a chance to try to shape how history will remember his one and only term in office.

July 25, 6:45 a.m. ET
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Trump watched Biden's speech on his airplane

Veteran New York Times photographer Doug Mills captured former President Donald Trump watching President Joe Biden's address to the nation Wednesday night from his airplane following his North Carolina rally.

– Rob Tornoe

July 25, 6:30 a.m. ET
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Gun control advocacy group backs Kamala Harris in first political endorsement

March for Our lives, a gun control advocacy group founded by survivors of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in its first political endorsement ever.

The group called her “a forceful champion for gun safety and for young people,” and said she’s worked with the organization through the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which Harris oversees.