A week before Vice President Kamala Harris is set to accept her party’s presidential nomination, officials from the Democratic National Convention and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson took to the United Center floor Thursday to unveil the stage where Harris will deliver her history-making speech.
“We’ve been working for over a year to build the figurative and now literal stage for our party and our nominees,” Alex Hornbrook, executive director of the Democratic National Convention Committee, told reporters during the unveiling. – It has been a long journey, but we are so happy that the stage is finally here. It’s built and it’s ready for showtime.”
Although Harris is not expected to take the stage until the last day of the convention, the program begins Monday, when Johnson is expected to speak. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker will take the stage Tuesday night.
Evoking Thomas Edison’s light bulbs at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, Johnson said, “In a week the city will be electrified again” as Harris accepted the nomination.
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who is Harris’ running mate, is expected to be the keynote speaker on Wednesday. The convention runs until Thursday. It is the first political convention in Chicago since the 1996 Democratic Convention, which was also held at the United Center.