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CHICAGO (AP) — The Democratic National Convention will kick off its fourth and final night on Thursday.
After a week of Democrats’ most prominent figures rallying the party faithful, Vice President Kamala Harris will accept her party’s nomination during a speech in which she is widely expected to offer her vision and policy agenda to the American people.
The theme of the final night is “For Our Future."
Only weeks ago, the Democratic Party was wracked by debate over whether President Joe Biden should step aside as the party’s nominee and over the party’s general message and values ahead of the 2024 election. In the weeks since Biden decided to stand down, however, left-of-center politics has taken hold around Harris at the top of the party ticket.
While Harris’ candidacy has unleashed a high level of enthusiasm and determination among Democrats, she is still defining her policy priorities and the ideological direction she will take the party. Last Friday, she unveiled her first major goal when she announced a raft of economic policies meant to lower the cost of living for working- and middle-class Americans.
The convention's final night will include remarks from some of the party's most prominent battleground state Democrats, including figures in competitive statewide races.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy will all deliver remarks. Tennessee state lawmakers Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson, the “ Tennessee Three, " will speak. Jones and Pearson were expelled from the state Legislature for participating in a protest on gun control at the state Capitol.
Other speakers include Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge; Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Bob Casey, D-Pa., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Reps. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., Lucy McBath, D-Ga., Joe Neguse, D-Colo., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Colin Allred, D-Texas, and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., as well as former Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, the prominent civil rights leader, also will speak. The pop star Pink will perform.