Former opponents and Democratic activists to officially nominate Biden in revamped roll call vote
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 8/18/2020, 12:30 p.m.
By Dan Merica, CNN
(CNN) -- The revamped Democratic convention will alter yet another tradition on Tuesday when the roll call vote to formally nominate Joe Biden will be held with people from all 57 states and territories appearing over video.
The range of Democrats set to nominate Biden runs the gamut from elected officials, including a number of his 2020 opponents, to activists like a fisherman from Alaska, a farmer in Kansas and a bricklayer in Missouri.
Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, one of Biden's 2020 challengers, will appear from Indiana, while other primary opponents like Rep. Tim Ryan in Ohio, Sen. Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota and Sen. Bernie Sanders in Vermont will appear.
The vote will also focus on key issues in the election. Marisol Garcia, a teacher from Arizona, will discuss returning to school during the coronavirus pandemic, while Howard Chou from Colorado will discuss issues facing working parents during the crisis. Fred Guttenberg of Florida, whose daughter was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018, will discuss gun violence. And activist Khizr Khan, whose speech about his son who died in combat during the last convention became a breakout moment in 2016, will appear from Virginia by highlighting the racial violence that killed one person in Charlottesville in 2017.
To honor the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, Keely Sage, a college student in Tennessee, will appear from the headquarters of the suffragists to discuss the role of women in electing Biden.
Both Biden, the top vote getter, and Sanders, who finished in second, will be placed into nomination on Tuesday in what organizers hope will be a unifying moment for the party.
The roll call vote process is traditionally a long affair with each delegation in the convention arena going around and pledging delegates to candidates who ran in their primary or caucus. This process will be sped up -- organizers expect it to take 30 minutes.
"A moment like this demands leadership—not just from those we've elected, but from all of us," said Joe Solmonese, CEO of the convention. "All across the nation Americans are answering that call to action, and tonight we hope viewers are inspired to see their neighbors overcoming Donald Trump's chaos and joining Joe Biden in his battle for the soul of our nation."
While the roll call vote will go in alphabetical order, organizers have planned to have Delaware -- Biden's home state -- pass when their turn comes up and return to the process to be the decisive state for the former vice president. Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper will appear for Delaware.
Once the roll call vote is finished, Biden will officially be the party's nominee, a designation he will accept on Thursday.
Here is the full list of participants in the roll call vote, as provided to CNN by Democratic National Convention organizers:
ALABAMA
Rep. Terri Sewell
ALASKA
Veteran, fisherman and party activist Chuck Degnan
AMERICAN SAMOA
Party leaders Aliitama Sotoa and Patti Matila
ARIZONA
Middle school social studies teacher Marisol Garcia
ARKANSAS
Chef Gilbert Alaquinez
CALIFORNIA
Former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Rep. Barbara Lee
COLORADO
Immigrant and party activist Howard Chou and his family
CONNECTICUT
Veteran firefighter Peter Carozza
DELAWARE
Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper
DEMOCRATS ABROAD
Organizer Julia Bryan
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Mayor Muriel Bowser
FLORIDA
Gun safety activist Fred Guttenberg
GEORGIA
State Sen. Nikema Williams, candidate for Lewis' seat in Congress
GUAM
Party chair Sarah Thomas-Nededog
HAWAII
Civil rights activist Dr. Amy Agbayani
IDAHO
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean
ILLINOIS
Former ambassador Carol Moseley Braun
INDIANA
Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg
IOWA
Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
KANSAS
Fourth-generation family farmer Mark Pringle
KENTUCKY
Education advocate Colmon Elridge
LOUISIANA
Rep. Cedric Richmond
MAINE
State Rep. Craig Hickman
MARYLAND
Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott and college student Bianca Shah
MASSACHUSETTS
State Rep. Claire Cronin
MICHIGAN
Sen. Gary Peters and UAW auto worker Ray Curry
MINNESOTA
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
MISSISSIPPI
Tougaloo College president Dr. Carmen Walters
MISSOURI
Bricklayer Reuben Gill
MONTANA
Recent college graduate Rachel Prevost
NEBRASKA
Meatpacking plant employee Geraldine Waller
NEVADA
Rep. Dina Titus
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Former Gov. John Lynch
NEW JERSEY
Gov. Phil Murphy
NEW MEXICO
Tribal member and state Rep. Derrick Lente
NEW YORK
Registered nurse and a member of 1199 SEIU Scheena Iyande Tannis
NORTH CAROLINA
Longtime Democratic activist Cozzie Watkins
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
Party chair Nola Kileleman Hix
OHIO
Rep. Tim Ryan and IBEW organizer Josh Abernathy
OKLAHOMA
Party chair Alicia Andrews
OREGON
Activist Dr. Rosa Colquitt and registered nurse Travis Nelson
PENNSYLVANIA
Sen. Bob Casey
PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Sen. Carmelo Rios-Santiago
RHODE ISLAND
State Rep. Joseph McNamara
SOUTH CAROLINA
Senate candidate Jaime Harrison
SOUTH DAKOTA
Tribal activist Kellen Returns From Scout
TENNESSEE
College student Keely Sage
TEXAS
Rep. Veronica Escobar
UTAH
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson
VERMONT
Gubernatorial candidate and Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, Jane and Bernie Sanders and other Vermont activists
VIRGIN ISLANDS
Chair Cecil Benjamin
VIRGINIA
Activist Khizr Khan
WASHINGTON
State Rep. My-Linh Thai
WEST VIRGINIA
Veteran educator and union organizer Fred Albert
WISCONSIN
Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes
WYOMING
Activists Judy and Dennis Shepherd