HOUSTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Houston on Thursday to speak at the American Federation of Teachers' 88th Convention, according to the White House.
The convention is taking place at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown.
This visit comes as Harris is on the campaign trail for her presidential bid after President Joe Biden exited the race Sunday.
The White House said this keynote speech from Harris will be a "continuation of her consistent efforts to fight for workers across America, including as Chair of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment."
According to its website, the AFT is a union of professionals that “champions fairness, democracy, economic opportunity and high-quality public education, healthcare, and public services for our students.”
On Monday, AFT delegates “overwhelmingly” voted to endorse VP Kamala Harris as the Democratic party’s presidential nominee.
“The educators, bus drivers, nurses, public employees, higher education workers, correctional officers, and doctors of the AFT stand with Kamala. We are fully committed to this fight: united, mobilized, and ready to vote in this year’s election,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.
This will be Harris' second trip to Texas this month. She was most recently in Houston for a "moderated conversation" with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in November.
Jean Morningstar and 24 other delegates representing health professionals traveled from Connecticut to attend the convention in Houston.
“We as a union will throw our support and our money behind her. Of course, not every member of our union will vote for her, not every member supports her, but the majority of the delegates at the convention that represent the 1.8 million members, they actually do support her," Morningstar said.
Rice University Professor Mark Jones said the support of the American Federation of Teachers shouldn’t be taken lightly.
"Throughout the country, teacher’s unions represent the backbone of the democratic party’s logistical operation and are crucial to the party in mobilizing people to vote," Jones said.
While only those attending the convention will be able to see Harris speak in person, those interested in watching her speak can stream it here.