WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the race for the White House in 2024 for President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday and promised a peaceful transfer of power to Republicans just four years after a violent insurrection at the US Capitol spoiled Trump’s previous handoff to his boss, outgoing President Joe Biden.

“The light of America’s promise will always shine as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting,” Harris said during a late afternoon concession speech at the Howard University, his alma mater and site of an all-night election vigil. it became a somber event as Trump got closer to victory.

While Harris promised a peaceful transfer of power to Trump, she also told a crowd of supporters that she would continue to fight for the policies she outlined during her short-lived presidential campaign, including the right to freedom. abortion and gun control.

“While I recognize this election, I don’t recognize the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris, 60, said. “We will continue to fight this fight in the voting booths, in the courts and in the public square, and we will also fight it more discreetly, in the way we live our lives, treating each other with kindness and respect .”

The 2024 election marked the second time Democrats nominated a woman to take on Trump. And for the second time, the country chose Trump as its next president.

Their quick defeat this week leaves the Democratic Party in trouble after Harris failed to make protecting American freedoms and democracy the defining issues of the presidential election. Both had won victories for Democrats in the 2022 congressional elections. Now, Republicans are set for January control the White House and the Senate and remain within sight of holding all the levers of power if they manage to maintain their majority in the House.

In the final days of the 2024 presidential race, Harris argued that Trump would use his elected office to pursue political retaliation against his enemies, that he would not adhere to the Constitution and that he was mentally ill.

Many voters disagreed.

Trump campaigned on the economic record of his first term and pledged to curb illegal immigration. He managed to overcome the legacy of the January 6 insurrection and a double-digit disadvantage against women by occupying a position of overwhelming advantage among men.

His victory was also ultimately shaped not by his divisive rhetoric, but by his positions on issues important to Americans like the economy. The victory over Harris now means the United States should now retreat from Biden’s globally focused national security priorities and turn inward toward domestic challenges such as immigration and still-high inflation.

Democrats to focus on rebuilding after Harris defeat

Harris’ failure at the polls is a remarkable moment in a presidential race like no other — a campaign that has been upended by improbable events, including two failed assassination attempts on Trump.

Democrats will now turn their attention to rebuilding their ranks on Capitol Hill and in the states, with an upcoming midterm campaign cycle in 2026 that recent history suggests could work in their favor. There is also now a wide open spot for the party in 2028, when Trump will be term-limited and unable to seek four more years in the White House. Going forward, several sitting governors are expected to play leading roles for Democrats, including Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, California’s Gavin Newsom and Maryland’s Wes Moore.

For her part, Harris said Wednesday that she would remain politically engaged despite losing the election, emphasizing that young people must still fight for reproductive rights, gun control and democracy.

“On the campaign trail, I often said that when we fight, we win,” Harris said. “But here’s the thing… Sometimes the fight takes a while.”

“That doesn’t mean we won’t win,” Harris added.

Harris entered the 2024 race just over 100 days before the election after Biden, 81, abruptly ended his campaign for a second term in July amid concerns he was not physically or mentally fit. the height of the challenge of serving another four years.

With the sitting president’s blessing, Democrats quickly united around her candidacy, Harris secured the party’s nomination and turned her attention to Trump, whom she portrayed as a threat to democracy and unfit for the Oval Office .

Harris campaigned on a promise that she would make middle-class Americans a priority in her administration and offered them a series of tax breaks. She fought Trump’s claims that she was not a capitalist while campaigning on centrist economic policies and saying she would only raise taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.

During the 2024 campaign trial, Harris rarely mentioned the potentially revolutionary nature of her candidacy. Instead, she often focused on her past work as a prosecutor and cited her former legal cases to draw a contrast with Trump, the first former president to face criminal charges as well as a conviction for felony on 34 counts involving hush money payments to ex-porn. star with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair.

Harris got his start in public service as a prosecutor in California’s Alameda County and quickly rose to become San Francisco district attorney, state attorney general and U.S. senator. She launched an ill-fated bid for president in 2019 before becoming Biden’s running mate.

This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Harris concedes race to Trump, Democrats enter political wilderness