New York Democrats are among delegates and officials from around the country heading to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention starting Monday.
Originally planned as a four-day rally behind President Joe Biden’s bid for a second term, the convention is now focused on convincing Americans that Vice President Kamala Harris is the best choice in November.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan is a delegate and was born in the Windy City.
"There is a lot of excitement among the delegates for the upcoming convention," said Sheehan. "I've been on a number of calls for delegates to make sure that we're prepared and we know where we need to be, when we need to be there and all of the different events that will be going on over the course of the week. And so there is a lot of enthusiasm for the Harris wall ticket, and I look forward to being with my fellow Democrats in Chicago."
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, a fellow delegate, expects Democrats to be energized as they head toward November’s election against former President Donald Trump.
"The whole focus of this campaign has been about President Biden, so now we got to switch gears and get that message out to the people and let them know, 'hey, look, she's a great pick,' McCoy said. "She's going to do a great job, and this is who we want leading our country for the next four years. Because we really got to get back in the middle of the, you know, of the gauge, so to speak. You know, people don't like it so far left. Some people don't like it so far right. And we really need to get to the common core of the people of this great country."
McCoy urges voters to not be fazed by the accelerated political calendar.
"Some people didn't like the way the process went to get to where we are, to get the, you know, Kamala Harris as our next pick for our party, but we have less than 100 days," said McCoy. "And this is why I want to remind voters and everyone out there, you have less than 100 days, I think, less than to really get out there and put a platform up against a former sitting president, you know, and [one] that has been out on the campaign trail for a couple years. So to switch gears this quickly it's hard, right?"
Sheehan says this year's convention reminds her of 2016 when Hillary Clinton was the candidate everyone expected to be the nominee.
"There was still a tremendous amount of excitement and enthusiasm for that, and there's a lot of excitement for when they actually do the live roll call. There's just nothing quite like it, and people get really excited about it, and it's an important point in history, and we're going to be making history again as Democrats with this ticket," Sheehan said.
McCoy says President Biden has "done a great job."
"It's good that he's moving to the side for the good of this country. And it just shows you, at the end of the day, why I love being a Democrat, because it's not about you as an individual, it's about the whole community," said McCoy.
Former Niskayuna town board member Denise Murphy McGraw is a member of the credentialing committee for the convention, an official governing body of the DNC.
"The one big difference is that Joe Biden will be speaking on Monday night, not Thursday night. I think it's really unprecedented, and it will be interesting to see that. I'm also hearing that we may get a guest appearance from Beyoncé, international superstar, so that will be very interesting. This is a very unified party right now, so there will not be competing speeches or competing factions or multiple votes. The other real difference right now is that these delegates have already voted. Because of a situation with the ballot in Ohio, the entire Democratic National Convention delegate body voted electronically last week and already approved Kamala Harris as the presidential nominee for the Democrats," said Murphy McGraw.
Albany Chief City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs, a mayoral candidate, and Congressman Paul Tonko of the 20th district are also delegates.
