Democratic National Convention underway

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--Roughly 4,000 delegates will be at Democratic National Convention, with 307 of them from New York.

The state’s Democratic Party Chairman, Jay Jacobs, is currently in Chicago.

"The main thing I’m getting from walking along the halls and talking with people is just this tremendous sense of enthusiasm and excitement," explained Jacobs.

Grant Reheer, a political science professor at Syracuse University, said on this first day of the Democratic National Convention those attending will be celebrating President Joe Biden. Biden stepped away from the race and threw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.

"He’s going to speak and then he’s going to take a vacation in California afterwards and kind of get out of Kamala Harris’ way," said Reeher. "I think that decision makes sense. I believe that Hillary Clinton is also speaking. So, I guess you can think of it as these are the recent biggest party leaders carrying of the flag of the party, in the last 8-12 years."

Also among those slated to speak is Governor Kathy Hochul.

While Kamala Harris is already the party’s nominee, she is expected to formally accept the nomination for President on Thursday, the last day of the convention.

"The Democratic Party conducted an internet ballot of the delegates to ensure that Harris became the candidate by August 6th. So this week is somewhat of a formality," explained Jeff Wice, an adjunct professor at New York Law School.

According to Reeher, we could get a better idea of the issues a Harris administration would support.

"I think a good question for New Yorkers to keep in mind is, what can I learn from this conference— this convention, that really tells me the likely policies are going to be that this administration would push. They are beginning to roll out some of those now, but I think that’s the big question voters have to sort out."