“We Feel Good About What We’re Seeing”: Harris Campaign Remains Optimistic Despite Early Trump Lead

On election night, as early results showed former President Donald Trump with an initial lead in electoral votes, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon rallied campaign staff, expressing confidence in their strategy to reach 270 electoral votes. “We feel good about what we’re seeing,” Dillon stated in an internal email to campaign members, emphasizing that they anticipated this situation and have prepared for it.

In her email, Dillon highlighted that the campaign’s primary strategy hinges on winning the “Blue Wall” states, a collection of battleground states in the Midwest and Northeast that were pivotal in previous elections. “While we continue to see data trickle in from the Sun Belt states, we have known all along that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes lies through the Blue Wall states,” Dillon assured the team, underscoring their reliance on these key regions. This approach reflects the campaign’s strategy to prioritize traditional Democratic strongholds in hopes of securing a decisive victory.

She also provided updates on vote counts from key areas, noting that results from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were expected within a few hours, while the full count in Wisconsin would likely not be completed until early Wednesday morning. These areas are crucial to Harris’ chances, as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are known to swing elections in either direction. Dillon, a seasoned campaigner who also managed President Joe Biden’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns, knows that these states are essential and has encouraged patience among her staff, told Raw Story.

As the night unfolded, Dillon reminded her team that the electoral process could take time, pointing out that polls in Nevada and Arizona had just closed and that information from those states would also take a while to be fully counted. “We’ve been saying for weeks that this race might not be called tonight,” Dillon reiterated, referencing the precedent set in the 2020 election. In that race, it took days for the final results to be tallied and confirmed due to the high volume of mail-in ballots and delayed vote counts in certain states.

Throughout her message, Dillon urged her team to stay resilient and keep perspective. The internal email, titled “What we’re seeing so far,” was both a status update and a morale boost for staff, who have been working tirelessly. Dillon’s tone conveyed cautious optimism, rooted in the campaign’s deep understanding of voting trends and the careful planning that went into each targeted region.

As a final note, she encouraged staff to “get some sleep, and get ready to close out strong tomorrow,” a sentiment that reflects both the endurance required of campaign staff on election nights and her confidence in the final outcome.

In this early stage of the election, Dillon’s message underscores the Harris campaign’s preparedness for a prolonged process. Her strategic update aims to maintain focus on their anticipated path to victory, emphasizing that patience and steady work remain key as they await the final results from battleground states.