Vice President Kamala Harris’ college sorority is launching its own PAC in an effort to boost one of its most prominent alumni into the White House.
Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, one of the oldest and most prominent historically black sororities in the country. AKA is also counted among the “Divine Nine,” a group of the most prominent black sororities and fraternities that holds huge sway in the black community.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, will be able to accept donations of up to $5,000 from sorority members and their families.
Harris has long courted the support of AKA and other Divine Nine member groups. She delivered a speech at AKA’s annual convention in July, and she invited the Divine Nine to the White House shortly after gaining office in 2021. It was the first time the group had met directly with a U.S. president or vice president.
Together, the Divine Nine has some 2.5 million active members across the country. Harris has enjoyed a surge in support from voters of color in the weeks following President Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.
Polls show Harris quickly caught up to Trump from Biden’s trailing performance, with many surveys showing her with a slight lead. Many Democratic analysts say party members may be over-confident about Harris as a candidate, however.
Longtime strategist David Axelrod warned earlier this month that Democrats are displaying a lot of “irrational exuberance” about her campaign.
“She has a lot of momentum, but if you do look at the polling, this is still a really tight race,” he said. “This is going to be a hard fight for either side. It’s based on the numbers we’re seeing right now.”
“Look, I mean, there’s a lot of irrational exuberance on the Democratic side of the aisle right now, because there was despair for some period of time about what November was gonna look like,” he continued. “Now people feel like there’s a chance.”
Axelrod nevertheless argued that Trump still holds an advantage over Harris despite close polling.
“It’s absolutely Trump’s race to lose right now. He is ahead,” he said. “And he is ahead in most of the battleground states. They’re close, they can be won by either candidate.”
