CHICAGO — Texas Democrats, including their 273 delegates, arrived in Chicago on Sunday and made a brief visit to the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention will begin on Monday.
The Texas delegation, which will sit near the back of the arena, practiced the ceremonial roll call when each state’s delegates cast their votes for the nominee. That is scheduled for Tuesday.
California’s delegation is closest to the stage since Kamala Harris is from there. She will formally accept the nomination on Thursday during a primetime speech.
"For women, this is a big moment. I was a Clinton delegate in 2016 so I felt that. Being here feels like that much more. We are not going back and America is seeing women for what we've been doing and I think America is ready to have a female president," said Shay Cathey, Vice Chair of the Texas Democratic Party, who lives in Dallas.
Protests follow politics and this week in Chicago will be no exception.
"We think that the Democrats are in the best position to respond to our demands. They should be very willing and interested in hearing our demands and I think they're kind of our natural allies. But they do need to feel some pressure from the left," said Anne Rumberger, from Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws, who helped organize Sunday's protest.
Several thousand leftists marched down Michigan Avenue on Sunday evening from the Chicago River to Grant Park. The protesters demand that Democrats codify abortion, end financial aid to Israel and better protect civilians in Gaza.
“Harris has stated her support for Israel while expressing concern about the scale of attacks on Gaza, noting that innocent people shouldn’t be punished for the acts of a terrorist organization. Drawing a distinction between Hamas and the people of Gaza is important, and she should continue to do it,” said Ed Espinoza, an Austin-based Democratic political analyst.
Republicans are not taking this week off. GOP nominee Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are counterprogramming the big week for Democrats with their own events in battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.
The Trump campaign is also sending surrogates to Chicago in hopes of slowing Harris’ momentum. Recent polls show her moving ahead of Trump in several battleground states and the race generally tightening up.
But Democrats are riding a wave of enthusiasm that the party hasn’t seen since 2008, while still carefully navigating resistance from within.