The day after Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for the White House, Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee’s Michigan campaign office saw 650 people sign up to volunteer.

The next night in Nevada, Rep. Steven Horsford had another 600 volunteers register in his Las Vegas-area district. Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean’s constituents were “fired up.” New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster felt “palpable” enthusiasm. And by week’s end, Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s team had 400 volunteers ready to “get on the bus” to campaign for Democrats in neighboring Michigan and Wisconsin.

“The theory of the case is proving true: There’s a renewed enthusiasm within the Democratic Party for our candidate at the top of the ticket,” said Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota, who had been among Democrats calling for President Joe Biden to step aside.

Weeks of despair among Democratic lawmakers that Biden would not only lose the White House but take congressional candidates down with him disappeared in a blink. The 2024 campaign’s static inertia was transforming into kinetic political energy after Harris took hold of the party, stunned the establishment and shook up the race against Republican Donald Trump.

Women, young people and voters of color started suddenly flocking to the Democratic campaigns. The congressional campaign committees for the House and Senate Democrats reported record-setting $1 million days for online donations, among the highest in history. Lawmakers said people showed up without prompting, asking what they could do to help.

The turnaround, just over 100 days from the election, revives the party’s hope of winning back the House and fighting to hold its Senate majority. Rather than simply being seen as a last line of defense against Trump and the Project 2025 agenda, the potential for broader Democratic wins is coming into view, despite Republican assertions that the Harris boost is a blip that won’t prove lasting.

Harris’ rise quickly quelled, for now, the painful party revolt that had thrown Democrats into weeks of anguished anxiety.

“We’re sort of right on the cusp of both existential dread and excitement for making history,” said freshman Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico.

The House in particular has been reeling from the chaotic turn of events. The party angst over Biden’s ability to lead the ticket spilled into the open after his disastrous debate performance called into question his age, 81, and his ability to serve another term.

Lloyd Doggett of Texas, the first Democratic lawmaker to call for Biden to withdraw from the race, said, “I think we were on a path to lose this election, and now we have a fighting chance to win it.”

For some, the energy and enthusiasm they are witnessing reminds them of 2008, when a young U.S. senator, Barack Obama, powered his longshot White House bid with a new coalition of Democrats, fueled partly by young millennials.

Horsford, who was among Obama’s earliest backers in Nevada, remembers the throngs of young people who worked as part of a multiracial, multigenerational coalition. And that’s what he sees now “coming out of the woodwork” to help Harris.

“It’s actually more than a campaign now,” Horsford said. “It’s a movement.”

Both the House and Senate are fiercely contested this election year, with razor-tight majorities heading into November, which means just a single seat can determine which party holds power.

In the House, some 40 seats are considered competitive, and any one of them could make or break the outcome, determining whether Republicans keep their slim majority or Democrats wrest control.

The Senate is tougher for Democrats, a candidate-versus-candidate contest less beholden to the top of the ticket. Senate Democrats hold the majority by a single seat, and among the most endangered incumbents, Montana’s Sen. Jon Tester, has yet to back Harris. A 50-50 Senate would give power to the party in the White House because the vice president can cast tie-breaking votes.

Republicans handling the House and Senate races are racing to redefine the presidential matchup with Trump, largely by defining Harris on their own terms.

GOP strategists believe the sudden flurry of support for Harris will fade and the Republicans like the prospect of replacing “Scranton Joe” with a “San Francisco liberal” who will own the Biden administration’s record on border policy and inflation, which are tops on voters’ minds.

“This whole, short-lived Harris honeymoon is over,” said Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“Age was the issue for Biden. The issue for Kamala Harris will be her far-left policies,” Daines said. “The nation is not going to elect a far-left, San Francisco radical.”

Jack Pandol, the spokesman for the House GOP’s National Republican Congressional Committee, said House Democrats are falling in line with Harris’ “extreme agenda to remake America in the image of San Francisco,” and they risk losing their elections over it.

The dynamic is being put to the test in real time as lawmakers in competitive seats watch the political ground shake beneath them in the presidential race.

“We have seen a night-and-day difference in every aspect of my campaign,” said Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, who was among some three dozen congressional Democrats who publicly called on Biden to pass the torch.

Fundraising, grassroots support and volunteer energy all soared “through the roof” since the hand-off to Harris, he said. “This is really electrifying our campaign.”

But in another competitive New York district, Republican Rep. Nick LaLota predicted when “the dust settles, my constituents will understand that life would be even worse under a Harris administration.”

To be sure, not all Democrats in Congress wanted to see Biden end his campaign for a second term.

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she was disturbed by the calls for Biden to step aside after all she said he has done as president.

In particular, some lawmakers worried that Harris would be thrust into the fray without adequate party support or simply be passed over as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and other prominent Democrats initially called for an open primary if Biden were to be replaced.

But once Biden decided it was “in the best interest of my party and the country” to end his bid, even some of those most resistant to the change welcomed the outcome.

Waters said there was such an outpouring of interest in Harris from her Los Angeles-area district that she was rushing home Friday to throw an organizing event. “We’re going to be jamming,” she said.

“He endorsed a woman — a woman of color — and it drew everybody into a new kind of possibility that could happen in this country,” she said.

Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking And Stephen Groves, The Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The federal Justice Department is defending the legal right to challenge robocalls sent to New Hampshire voters that used artificial intelligence to mimic President Joe Biden’s voice.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke and U.S. Attorney Jane Young filed a statement of interest Thursday in the lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters against Steve Kramer — the political consultant behind the calls — and the three companies involved in transmitting them.

Kramer, who is facing separate criminal charges related to the calls, has yet to respond to the lawsuit filed in March, but the companies filed a motion to dismiss last month. Among other arguments, they said robocalls don’t violate the section of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits attempting to or actually intimidating, threatening or coercing voters and that there is no private right of action under the law.

The Justice Department countered that the law clearly allows aggrieved individuals and organizations representing them to enforce their rights under the law. And it said the companies were incorrect in arguing that the law doesn’t apply to robocalls because they are merely “deceptive” and not intimidating, threatening or coercive.

“Robocalls in particular can violate voting rights by incentivizing voters to remain away from the polls, deceive voters into believing false information and provoke fear among the targeted individuals,” Young said in a statement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office commends any private citizen willing to stand up against these aggressive tactics and exercise their rights to participate in the enforcement process for the Voting Rights Act.”

At issue is a message sent to thousands of New Hampshire voters on Jan. 21 that featured a voice similar to Biden’s falsely suggesting that voting in the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary two days later would preclude them from casting ballots in November. Kramer, who paid a magician and self-described “digital nomad” who does technology consulting $150 to create the recording, has said he orchestrated the call to publicize the potential dangers of AI and spur action from lawmakers.

He faces 26 criminal charges in New Hampshire, along with a proposed $6 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission, which has taken multiple steps in recent months to combat the growing use of AI tools in political communications.

On Thursday, it advanced a proposal that would require political advertisers to disclose their use of artificial intelligence in broadcast television and radio ads, though it is unclear whether new regulations may be in place before the November presidential election.

Holly Ramer, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris crashed the season finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” urging Americans to vote in an appearance that was taped before President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.

The episode caps the series’ ninth season and is streaming Friday on Paramount+. It opens with an announcer saying that programing is being interrupted for an “extra special ‘Drag Race’ viewing party.”

The scene cuts to the Democratic vice president smiling broadly and saying into the camera, “Hi, everyone. It’s Kamala Harris. Each day, we’re seeing our rights and freedoms under attack, including the right of everyone to be who they are, love who they love — openly and with pride.”

Clad in a purple suit that nicely complements the hot-pink couch where she’s seated with actor Cheyenne Jackson and surrounded by other celebrities and stars from the show, Harris continues: “So, as we fight back against these attacks, no one is alone.”

“We are all in this together, and your vote is your power, so please make sure your voice is heard this November and register to vote,” the vice president concludes.

That prompts Jackson to proclaim, “Can I get an amen?” and Harris and others happily cry, “Amen!” The vice president, like many on the set, holds up her hands in a gesture of praise before adding, “Now on with the show.”

Harris and others then clap to RuPaul’s song “A Little Bit of Love,” as some of the assembled hoist placards promoting the website vote.gov. Harris laughs along as one sign is mistakenly held upside down. RuPaul, the show’s host, does not appear in the clip.

Harris, a former U.S. senator from California, is not the first Democratic politician to appear on the show, which is based in Los Angeles. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a guest judge in 2020.

Biden announced he was leaving the presidential race and endorsing Harris last weekend. The vice president has since stepped up her campaign and travel schedule.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Will Weissert, The Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, one of the leading contenders to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, apologized this week for something he said in lambasting Ohio Sen. JD Vance as inauthentically Appalachian — but the apology wasn’t to Vance.

Beshear, at his regularly scheduled news conference at the Kentucky State Capitol on Thursday, pulled out a bottle of Diet Mountain Dew and apologized to the makers of the soft drink. Earlier in the week, the Republican vice-presidential nominee had said at a rally in Ohio that he’d had a Diet Mountain Dew that day and fully expected to be called a “racist” because of it.

Beshear, in a CNN interview, called the comment “weird” and added: “Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?”

On Thursday he retreated — but only a little bit.

“Folks, I’ve been a person that when sometimes I’ve gone over the line, I’ve wanted to make sure that I set the record straight, so, I do owe an apology to Diet Mountain Dew,” Beshear said.

The Kentucky governor wasn’t ready to retreat from his attacks on the “Hillbilly Elegy” author for what he said was misrepresenting the region and calling people who live there lazy in the book. Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio, and while he has family in Kentucky, Beshear has said bluntly: “He ain’t from here.”

At the news conference, Beshear held up the drink and said he was wrong to single it out, though he still thought more Kentuckians were likely to turn to Ale 8 as their soft drink of choice.

He also said his criticism had nothing to do with being considered by Harris for vice president.

“What I said about JD Vance isn’t because of anything that is rumored about me or any role he’s stepped into,” Beshear said. “It’s because he has exploited and attempted to attack my fellow Kentuckians. And it’s my job as governor to stand up when that happens.

“To spend some summers or parts of summers or weekends or come into special events and then to claim that you know the people of eastern Kentucky, the culture of eastern Kentucky, to make money off of that claim and then to call our people names, is just not acceptable. If anybody else had done it, I’d be speaking up, too.”

Bruce Schreiner, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona is already expected to play a critical role in the White House race as it did in 2020, but Tuesday’s state primaries will set the stage for competitive contests that could determine control of the closely divided U.S. Senate, U.S. House and both chambers of the state legislature.

Topping the ballot Tuesday is the Republican primary in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat in 2018 but became an independent in 2022 after years of bucking her party on key votes. Sinema faced a tough road to reelection after U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego launched his bid for the Democratic nomination in 2023, raising the specter of a three-way general election in the competitive swing state. She announced in March she wouldn’t seek a second term. Gallego is unopposed in Tuesday’s primary.

In the Republican primary, ex-2022 gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake faces Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and neuroscientist Elizabeth Reye. Lake launched her campaign in October while still contesting the results of her failed bid for governor and has largely looked beyond the primary, skipping a debate and focusing her campaign messaging on Gallego and President Joe Biden. She has outpaced the field in fundraising and received the endorsement of ex-President Donald Trump.

In the U.S. House, Democrats hope to unseat two vulnerable Arizona Republican incumbents in districts Biden narrowly won in 2020, when he beat Trump.

In the 1st Congressional District, seven-term Rep. David Schweikert is the front-runner in his Republican primary against businessman Robert Backie and ex-FBI agent and corporate investigator Kim George. The field in the Democratic primary includes ex-state party chair and 2010 state treasurer nominee Andrei Cherny, ex-local news anchor Marlene Galán-Woods, orthodontist Andrew Horne, ex-regional American Red Cross CEO Kurt Kroemer, investment banker Conor O’Callaghan and ex-state Rep. Amish Shah.

Schweikert led both fields in campaign fundraising. Cherny raised the most through the end of June among Democrats. O’Callaghan began the month with slightly more money in the bank than Cherny, thanks in large part to $905,000 he loaned his campaign.

Cherny, an ex-Clinton White House speechwriter, has the ex-president’s backing and that of Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. Galán-Woods’ endorsements include ex-governor and Obama administration Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, state Attorney General Kris Mayes and Rep. Raúl Grijalva from the 7th Congressional District. O’Callaghan boasts endorsements from three members of Congress outside Arizona and “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Kate Walsh.

In the 6th Congressional District, Rep. Juan Ciscomani must face two rematches before he can claim a second term. First, he must fend off a challenge from fellow Republican Kathleen Winn, who placed third in the 2022 primary for this seat. If he wins the primary as expected, he’d again face Democrat Kirsten Engel, who received more than 49% of the vote against Ciscomani in 2022.

The rest of Arizona’s congressional districts are generally less competitive, although some feature notable primary matchups.

In the 2nd Congressional District, first-term Republican Rep. Eli Crane faces a primary challenge from Jack Smith, a former Yavapai County Board of Supervisors member. Crane was among eight U.S. House Republicans who voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker in 2023. Crane’s fellow Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, in the 5th Congressional District, also voted to oust McCarthy but is unopposed in his primary.

In the state legislature, Republicans hold the narrowest of majorities in both chambers. In the general election, Democrats will try to take over the state Senate for the first time since 1992 and the state House for the first time since 1966, the last time the party controlled the governorship and both chambers simultaneously.

Tuesday’s primaries were originally scheduled for Aug. 6, but the legislature changed the date to allow counties more time to tally votes in the event of an automatic recount.

Here’s a look at what to expect Tuesday:

Primary day

Arizona’s state primary will be held Tuesday. All polls close at 7 p.m. local time, meaning most of the state closes at 10 p.m. ET. Vote results won’t be available until 11 p.m. ET. Unlike most of the state, the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time, so polls there close at 9 p.m. ET, affecting parts of three counties in the 2nd Congressional District.

What’s on the ballot

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state Senate, state House and some local offices: county attorney, county recorder and county supervisor in Maricopa County and county attorney and sheriff in Pima County.

Who gets to vote

Registered party members may vote only in their own party’s primary. Independent or unaffiliated voters may participate in either primary.

Decision notes

The most pivotal county in Arizona elections is Maricopa, which is home to Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe and Mesa and contributed more than 60% of the vote in the 2022 governor’s race. Pima County was a distant second, just shy of 16% of the vote.

Eight of Arizona’s nine congressional districts include parts of Maricopa County, with the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 8th districts falling within its boundaries. Crane’s 2nd Congressional District contains only a small sliver of Maricopa. Instead, Yavapai, Pinal and Coconino tend to be the decisive counties in that district. Ciscomani’s 6th District is the only congressional seat unaffected by the Maricopa vote. Pima County is the largest source of votes there.

In state House primaries, voters may select up to two candidates, and the AP will declare two winners per contest. The AP will tabulate write-in votes cast in the Republican primary for state House District 29, which may delay determining the winner.

The AP doesn’t make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there’s no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race hasn’t been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, like candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear it hasn’t declared a winner and explain why.

In Arizona, recounts are automatic if the vote margin is 0.5% of the total vote or less. The AP may declare a winner in a race that’s eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

What do turnout and advance vote look like?

As of April, there were nearly 4.1 million registered voters in Arizona. Of those, about 35% were Republicans and 29% were Democrats.

In the 2022 midterm primaries, turnout was nearly 13% of registered voters in the Democratic primaries and about 18% in the Republican primaries. Arizona has an “Active Early Voting List” program where participating eligible voters are automatically sent a mail ballot. About 93% of Democratic primary voters and 79% of Republican primary voters cast their ballots before primary day in 2022.

As of Tuesday, nearly 696,000 ballots had been cast ballots before primary day, about 45% in the Democratic primary and about 54% in the Republican primary.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2022 midterm primaries, the AP first reported results at 11:01 p.m. ET, about one minute after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 7:11 a.m. ET with about 77% of total votes counted.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 98 days until the November general election.

Robert Yoon, The Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris in her White House bid, giving the vice president the expected but still crucial backing of the nation’s two most popular Democrats.

The endorsement, announced Friday morning in a video showing Harris accepting a joint phone call from the former first couple, comes as Harris continues to build momentum as the party’s likely nominee after President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid and endorse his second-in-command against Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.

It also highlights the friendship and potentially historic link between the nation’s first Black president and the first woman, first Black woman and first person of Asian descent to serve as vice president, who is now vying to break those same barriers at the presidential rank.

“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” the former president told Harris, who is shown taking the call as she walks backstage at an event, trailed by a Secret Service agent.

Said Michelle Obama, “I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you.

“This is going to be historic,” she added.

Harris, who has known the Obamas since before his election in 2008, thanked them for their friendship and said she looks forward to “getting there, being on the road” with them in the three-month blitz before Election Day on Nov. 5.

“We’re gonna have some fun with this too, aren’t we?” Harris said.

The Obamas are perhaps the last major party figures to endorse Harris formally — a reflection of the former president’s desire to remain, at least publicly, a party elder operating above the fray. The Obamas remain prodigious fundraising draws and popular surrogates at large campaign events for Democratic candidates.

According to an Associated Press survey, Harris already has secured the public support of a majority of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 19 in Chicago. The Democratic National Committee expects to hold a virtual nominating vote that would, by Aug. 7, make Harris and a yet-to-be-named running mate the official Democratic ticket.

Biden endorsed Harris within an hour of announcing his decision last Sunday to end his campaign amid widespread concern about the 81-year-old president’s ability to defeat Trump. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed in the days after.

The Obamas, however, trod carefully as Harris secured the delegate commitments, made the rounds among core Democratic constituencies and raised more than $120 million. The public caution tracks how the former president handled the weeks between Biden’s debate debacle against Trump and the president’s eventual decision to end his campaign: Obama was a certain presence in the party’s maneuvers but he operated quietly.

Barack Obama’s initial statement after Biden’s announcement did not mention Harris. Instead, he spoke generically about coming up with a nominee to succeed Biden: “I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” the former president wrote.

Both Obamas campaigned separately for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, including large rallies on the closing weekends before Election Day. They delivered key speeches at the Democrats’ convention in 2020, a virtual event because of the coronavirus pandemic. The former president’s speech was especially notable because he unveiled a full-throated attack on Trump as a threat to democracy, an argument that endures as part of Harris’ campaign.

Bill Barrow, The Associated Press