Why did states like California pass at the DNC?

When we watched the Democratic National Convention roll call, it was shocking to hear some states “pass.” It became clear later on, but if you don’t know why a state is passing at a specific time, you might fear that the state won’t support the candidate. Don’t worry; it’s fine.

States like Alabama, California, and Minnesota all passed during their original slots during the roll call, and the reasoning is kind of fun. At first, Alabama skipped to have Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware go first. But when we got to California and then Minnesota, the home states of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz said “pass” at that moment. Many wondered why, and the reason is because they wanted the states to be the deciding factor for the nomination.

Minnesota went prior to California, talking about their love of Prince and the state’s love of Tim Walz. It was a celebration of the state (complete with two different Prince songs), and it was the penultimate vote before California came in to celebrate Harris.

Kamala Harris is from California, and Governor Gavin Newsom was joined by fellow Californian Nancy Pelosi to shout out the Golden State. With music from Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, and 2 Pac, the celebration of California’s delegates and their votes was electric. So the reason both of these states originally passed during the roll call was to give the home states of the nominees the final deciding votes.

It was a nice touch. Think about having your home state so excited to vote for you and being the deciding factor. Granted, it was pretty much confirmed heading in that Harris and Walz had the nomination. but still. Letting Minnesota and California be the end of the DNC roll call this year was a nice touch, and what a way to go out, listening to 2 Pac!