August 1, 2024, presidential campaign news

Our live coverage has ended. Follow the latest 2024 election news here or read through the posts below.

Rep. Bob Good on Capitol Hill on May 7.

Rep. Bob Good on Thursday conceded the Republican primary in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District after a recount. 

“While I am disappointed in the ultimate outcome, it has been my distinct honor to serve as the congressional representative for Virginia’s 5th District over the past 3.5 years,” Good said in a statement on Facebook.

Good requested the recount, which he had to fund, after the certified results found him 374 votes, or 0.6 percentage points, behind state Sen. John McGuire. 

Both former President Donald Trump and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy endorsed McGuire against Good, who chairs the hard-line House Freedom Caucus. 

Republican Rep. Andy Ogles, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, will survive a primary challenge in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, CNN projects.

Ogles, a freshman lawmaker who had former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, is projected to defeat challenger Courtney Johnston, a member of Nashville’s Metro Council who outraised him in the race.

Ogles will be heavily favored in the general election for the Middle Tennessee seat, which Republicans redrew two years ago to favor their party.

Since taking office, Ogles has been dogged by questions about his resume. A series of investigative reports by WTVF, the CBS affiliate in Nashville, raised questions about the congressman’s campaign finances, his academic background, his work history, his claims of volunteer work and more.  

On July 23, following Kamala Harris’ elevation as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Ogles introduced two articles of impeachment in the House against the vice president, accusing her of willfully refusing to uphold immigration laws and a breach of public trust. The effort has no chance of advancing in the House.

JD Vance gives remarks at a campaign rally at Arizona Christian University in Glendale, Arizona, on July 31.

Former President Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, said Thursday in an interview with NewsMax that he doesn’t “really care” who his opponent is.

“I don’t really care about who my opponent is,” he said.

Vance also took a dig at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a potential running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris, claiming he did “nothing” during the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment and toxic spill.

Vance’s comments come as anticipation mounts around who Harris will choose to join her atop the Democratic ticket. Her campaign announced earlier this week that she and her vice presidential pick will embark on a swing state tour next week, starting in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Gloria Johnson, who made national headlines last year as one of three Tennessee state lawmakers facing expulsion over their protest on the state House floor for more gun control, will win the Democratic nomination for Senate in the Volunteer State, CNN projects.

Johnson will take on Republican incumbent Marsha Blackburn, who will be heavily favored in the deep-red state. Tennessee hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1990.

Johnson made headlines in 2023 when she, along with fellow Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, faced expulsion from the state Legislature after advocating gun reform measures following a mass shooting at a Nashville school. Republicans in the chamber accused the trio – who soon earned the moniker “Tennessee Three” of “knowingly and intentionally” bringing “disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives.”

Jones and Pearson, who are Black, were expelled, though they later won back their seats. Johnson, who is White, narrowly avoided expulsion.

In an interview with CNN at the time, Johnson slammed the votes to expel Jones and Pearson as racist.

“I am a 60-year-old White woman, and they are two young Black men,” Johnson said, noting that both Pearson and Jones were questioned in a “demeaning way” by lawmakers before their expulsion. 

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear heads to the Windy City Monday, where he’s set to headline a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.

The fundraiser is hosted by Christie Hefner; former US Ambassador to the Netherlands Fay Hartog-Levin; and the Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs, a Jewish-Dem organization.

JB Pritzker speaks during an interview in Chicago, Illinois, on May 6.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, one of several Democratic politicians being considered as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, joked about reports of other vice presidential contenders cancelling events over the coming days ahead of Harris’ expected decision.

In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Pritzker confirmed that “people have called to talk to me about the possibility of being the vice presidential candidate,” and he acknowledged reports of other candidates clearing their schedules this weekend as the vice presidential decision draws closer.

The Harris campaign has announced that her running mate will make their first public appearance at a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

“Lollapalooza is happening this weekend here in Chicago, and my kids and, I mean, tens of thousands of others are going to be there,” Pritzker said, referring to the popular music festival in his home state that began Thursday.

“I’ve heard other governors talk about how they’ve cancelled their weekend plans. I was going to perform, of course, with Blink-182 on Sunday, but I’ve cancelled in order to clear my schedule,” he said.

A Pritzker spokesperson told CNN he does not have any planned public appearances this weekend. The governor’s comments come after Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg scrapped some plans they had been slated to attend this weekend.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is set to go on a swing state tour next week with her running mate. But she has yet to announce who that will be.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro had been scheduled to do a series of donor and fundraising events in New York this weekend, including in the Hamptons, but those have now been canceled, two people informed of the plans tell CNN. Shapiro has had multiple meetings with Harris aides who are leading the vetting process.

Another possible running mate, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, has also changed some of his plans. A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation told media on Thursday that a roadway safety roundtable Buttigieg was slated to attend Friday afternoon was canceled “due to some unforeseen scheduling constraints.”

Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker had initial and follow-up running mate vetting interviews with aides, a person familiar with the process told CNN. Both interviews were conducted virtually, with the second one taking place on Wednesday.

CNN’s Donald Judd and Alison Main contributed to this report.

This post has been updated with additional reporting.

Kamala Harris greets the crowd during her presidential campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 30.

Voting to officially make Vice President Kamala Harris the Democratic Party’s nominee for president began earlier today, with the party’s roughly 4,700 delegates receiving digital ballots. 

Delegates have until 6 p.m. ET on Monday to return their ballots. 

There isn’t much suspense over the outcome of the vote. Harris is the only name on the ballot, as she was the only candidate to a gather the necessary number of signatures from delegates. 

The party announced Tuesday that 3,923 delegates had petitioned for Harris, or 99% of those who participated in the process. No other candidate met the 300-signature threshold to qualify for the ballot. 

After Harris is officially the nominee, party rules allow her to name her running mate without a separate vote. 

Democrats are nominating Harris ahead of their convention in Chicago later this month to avoid potential litigation over ballot access, especially in Ohio. 

While the official voting is happening virtually, delegates will have a ceremonial roll call at the convention, which begins August 19.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about the release of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who were detained in Russia, as she departs to return to Washington, DC, at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, on Thursday August 1.

Vice President Kamala Harris gave solemn remarks on Thursday’s historic prisoner swap, nodding to her work with President Joe Biden on the release of wrongfully detained Americans Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva and US permanent resident Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said that it was “my honor to work alongside our president, Joe Biden, to bring home more than 70 Americans in the last three-and-a-half years.”

“Today, in spite of all of their suffering, it gives me great comfort to know that their horrible ordeal is finally over,” she told reporters on a tarmac as she prepared to depart Houston for Washington, where she is expected to meet with the freed Americans later Thursday. 

“Over many years, President Biden and I and our team have engaged in complex, diplomatic negotiations to bring wrongfully detained Americans home. We never stopped fighting for their release,” she added.