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.
The revamped Democratic convention will alter yet another tradition on Tuesday when the roll call vote to formally nominate Joe …
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden joined by his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Del., Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020./Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP

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