One week before Vice President Kamala Harris accepts her party's presidential nomination, Democratic National Convention officials and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson took to the United Center on Thursday to unveil the stage where Harris will deliver her historic speech.
“We have been working for over a year to build a metaphorical and literal stage for our party and our candidates,” Alex Hornbrook, executive director of the Democratic National Convention Committee, told reporters at the unveiling. “It has been a long journey, but we are so happy that the stage is finally here. It is built, and it is ready to perform.”
While Harris is not expected to take the stage until the final day of the convention, the program will begin on Monday, when Johnson is expected to speak. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is scheduled to take the stage Tuesday evening.
Invoking Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulbs at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Johnson said, “A week from now, the city will be electrified again,” as Harris accepted the nomination.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, is expected to be the keynote speaker on Wednesday. The convention runs through Thursday. It’s the first political convention in Chicago since the 1996 Democratic convention, which was also held at the United Center.
