A Kamala Harris presidential candidacy will have a ripple effect on state and local races — giving new energy to Democrats and boosting support for women running for office. But New York political strategists said Tuesday they will be prepared as her campaign brings systemic challenges to the forefront.

In her 2016 speech conceding to Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton dreamed of the U.S. breaking the glass ceiling and electing its first woman president.

"I know we have not yet shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday, someone will, and hopefully that will be sooner than we all might think right now," Clinton said at the time.

Now eight years later, Democrats are hopeful Harris will be the one to smash it. New York’s 307 delegates to be sent to the Democratic National Convention — the second-highest in the U.S. — have endorsed Harris, making her the presumptive presidential nominee.

"We're really concerned with building the bench — making sure that women are getting involved at all levels of government," said Eleanor's Legacy Executive Eirector Julie Shiroishi.

Shiroishi is a New York delegate eager to vote for Harris at next month's Democratic convention to be held in Chicago.

There's early momentum behind Harris, but lawmakers have said the vice president will face an uphill battle combatting racial stereotypes of what American voters expect an elected leader to look like.

"It's going to be very important that I think we brace ourselves for the unfair, misogynistic and racial undertones, overtones, explicit attacks and implicit attacks that she may be subject to," Democrat U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, N.Y.-14, told reporters Monday. "It's important for us to keep our eyes open for what is fair, but also for what is unfair. She will be subject to a lot of unfair treatment."

Shiroishi reflected on similar challenges she faced when she ran for a Hudson Valley state Senate in 2022 and lost to Sen. Rob Rolison.

"I lost to a second-generation Republican who many people felt like he already looked like a senator," Shiroishi recalled Tuesday. "So I understand that there's perceptions of what an elected official — what a president looks like.

"...We still have so far to go to convince people that how someone looks and how someone dresses should not be a relevant aspect of the candidacy," she added.

Democrats have quickly backed Harris to take Joe Biden's place as the party's presidential nominee. If elected, Harris would become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to serve as president.

"I look forward to being there for her in any way she needs me," Hochul said of Harris at an unrelated event in Western New York on Tuesday.

The governor told reporters she and Harris continue to play phone tag, and have not spoken since President Joe Biden's Sunday announcement on social media he would not seek reelection.

But political science experts argue Harris could see a boost by voters ready for a historic change.

A surge of female lawmakers were elected in federal and state politics in the 1990s — boosted by the hearings with Anita Hill, who accused then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

And more female candidates have gradually entered the ring as women make inroads in higher office, including Hochul becoming the first female governor of New York in 2021, or former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as a legitimate candidate who primaried former President Donald Trump this year.

"It's going to take time," said Samantha Pettey, a political science professor at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. "Mexico just elected their first female leader. A lot of our other comparative countries close by have elected their women leaders to the top, so I think we're getting there."

Hochul said Tuesday she's meeting with New York candidates running for Congress and the state Legislature, opening dozens of field offices and hiring 70 people to boost voter registration on college campuses and strengthen participation in early voting.

"Imagine the clout that New York will have with a president who knows our state, has been here countless times, [with] Chuck Schumer the majority leader of the United States Senate and Hakeem Jeffries as the speaker of the House of Representatives," Hochul continued. "That'll be a whole new era for progress in New York state."

Meanwhile, New York Republican leaders say the early energy for Harris is not concerning the GOP about voters who may be swayed to support a woman presidential candidate.

Jerika Manning chairs the Clinton County Republican committee in the North Country, and said Harris must answer for immigration policies and other issues during her time in the White House.

"She's making these people who are being trafficked into our country, women and children, vulnerable," Manning said. "And I think that if the Democrats want to support women or support the safety of women, then they need to look at things like that before they start looking at just this equality across the board that really wasn't worked for."

Harris is expected to focus on abortion rights through her campaign, which could rally independent and female voters. But Manning added Republicans will remain focused on issues more important to voters, like the economy, national security and public safety.

"The Supreme Court of the United States has made their decision, and [abortion's] not something that unless a potential president Harris is going to make an executive order or make sweeping legislation against the Supreme Court's ruling, that we need to be focusing on in this presidential election," she said.

But Pettey said it will come down to the success of the Harris campaign, which continues to take shape.

"We all know that the American voter didn't particularly care for Biden, so I think how she runs her campaign is going to be a make or break for her," Pettey said.

A Republican hasn not won a statewide election in New York since Gov. George Pataki, but Hochul only bested former congressman Republican Lee Zeldin by six points in 2022.