AUSTIN, Texas — Monday kicks off the opening night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago.
Celia Israel, a former state representative, is attending the DNC this week as a delegate from Austin.
"The energy is palpable right now in Chicago. They have rolled out the red carpet for us – American flags everywhere, festive, very happy, very joyous," Israel said.
She is one of 350 Texas delegates.
On Monday night, President Joe Biden will be speaking. Israel said she is excited to see the president take the stage, and a big part of the convention will be him passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris as a Democratic nominee.
"Historic election and would not be happening if President Biden had not had the grace to recognize it was time to pass the torch to Vice President Harris," Israel said. "I suspect you will see you will a lot respect and love."
Joshua Blank is the research director at the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. He said the Republicans had their convention last month, and now it's the Democrats' turn.
"The Republican convention was really about reinforcing what makes Donald Trump, Donald Trump. The Democratic convention is going to be a very different affair because it’s about introducing Kamala Harris to a much larger electorate than she has been introduced to," he said. "It's a historic moment and very rare to see a sitting president not seek reelection. What the observers are going to be watching is how smooth is the handoff."
Israel said she is looking to forward to the next few days with fellow Democrats in Chicago.
“It’s like a big family reunion for Democrats all across the country," she said. "Tonight brings the big show, where we demonstrate the leaders we have from across the country and ideas we believe are going are resonate with the voters."