Story by Abby Allard with additional reporting and video from Jordan Cooper and McKenna Schonbrun

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TRT: 1:33 

Lower Thirds: 

0:26;16 – Randon Sprinkle, Virginia Delegate 

0:50;18 – Levar Stoney, Mayor of Richmond 

1:07;25 – Mamie Locke, State Senator

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As Virginia Democrats prepare for their party’s National Convention that starts in Chicago today, their energy already is pretty loud.

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(POP) Good evening Virginia Democrats. 

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But behind the cheers, the delegates are planning for HOW Kamala Harris can win in November. One way is to appeal to a broad cross-section of voters.

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(SOT) Look at the diversity of this versus the diversity of the republican party and how we are representative of America and not just a section of America.

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Another way is to tap into the historic opportunity to elect the nation’s first Black woman as president. Richmond Mayor and James Madison University graduate Levar Stoney said Democrats must mobilize like they did when electing Barack Obama as the first Black president in 2008. 

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(SOT) And right now we are in the precipice one more time to do the same exact thing to ensure that Kamala Harris is the next president 

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Virginia Democrats say they plan to emphasize early voting. But they say they’re not worried about a lack of energy.

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(SOT) I think the divide has gone away for the most part because people are rallying around Vice President Harris.

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Virginia’s Democrats will spend the week at the United Center where they will hear from big-name speakers and announce their support for Harris in Monday’s roll call vote. 

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(POP) 119 votes for Vice President Kamala Harris

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Reporting from Chicago,   I’m Abby Allard

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