Harris was serious enough about Pritzker that the two-term billionaire governor reportedly met twice with her campaign. The attention around the vetting process only gave a boost to Pritzker’s national profile, something national politicos say is a huge boon for any potential future aspirations.

Heading into a weekend of interviews at the Naval Observatory with running mate prospects for a choice that will shape her campaign and the Democratic Party – and potentially her presidency and the country – she doesn’t have that luxury. Multiple people who have worked with Harris tell CNN they doubt that she’s fully comfortable with the rush as she does her final interviews.

Officials quickly moved to tailor the Chicago convention to Harris with only four weeks, in part drawing from the 2008 convention when Barack Obama accepted the nomination given the historic candidacy of Harris herself.

The online voting process doesn’t end until Monday, but the campaign marked the moment when she crossed the threshold to have the majority of delegates’ votes.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who has all but sealed the Democrats’ nomination after President Joe Biden last month abandoned his bid for reelection, has to choose her running mate before Aug. 7 when the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to confirm the ticket on a roll call vote.

The Republican nominee for president mentioned Chicago only once during a panel discussion at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention at the Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue.

Delegates to the Democratic National Convention will officially select their nominee for president in a process that begins Thursday. But unlike in past years, they won’t do so in the raucous party atmosphere of the convention floor or even during the convention itself.

Biden is expected to deliver a primetime speech during the opening night of the Chicago convention, according to three sources familiar with the planning, with the evening’s programming centering on Biden’s legacy and achievements. 

Vice President Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, appears intent on making a choice that she’s comfortable with personally and that can expand her electoral appeal in a matter of days.

The endorsement, announced Friday in a video showing Harris accepting a joint phone call from the former first couple, comes as Harris builds momentum as their 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.

The Sept. 10 debate was one of two debates that President Joe Biden and Trump had agreed on. The first one was hosted by CNN on June 27, but Biden has since dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris as his successor.

“Whatever happens in this process that I understand is going on, my job is to make sure that we win in November — so I’m going to work hard to do that,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told journalists Thursday amid reports he’s being considered for the Democratic vice presidential nomination.

Organizers and voters have already started rallying behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president. More than 40,000 Black women joined a Zoom call — with another 50,000 streaming on other platforms — this past Sunday to express their support.

Vice President Kamala Harris is the only major Democrat to announce publicly that she's seeking the nomination, meaning she'll almost-certainly be approved in a single round of virtual balloting beginning Aug. 1 — some 18 days before the party's convention opens in Chicago.

Illinois’ leading Democrats are following President Joe Biden’s lead in backing Vice President Kamala Harris following the president’s surprise announcement Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is among them.

Democrats are set to hold their convention in Chicago on Aug. 19-22. What was supposed to be a coronation for Biden now becomes an open contest in which nearly 4,700 delegates will be responsible for picking a new standard-bearer to challenge Republican Donald Trump in the fall.