With President Joe Biden’s announcement yesterday that he will not seek re-election, attention is now focused on selecting an alternative candidate for the Democratic Party. Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been formally designated as his successor, faces significant challenges in securing majority support from delegates.
Harris said in a statement that day, “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement, and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.” Although Biden endorsed Harris as the presidential candidate, she must go through several steps to be officially confirmed as the Democratic presidential nominee.
The Democratic Party had planned to finalize Biden’s selection as the candidate through online voting in early August, ahead of the Democratic National Convention scheduled for August 19. However, after securing overwhelming support in the primaries, Biden’s resignation forced the party to restart the candidate selection process from square one. The Democrats now need to decide whether to proceed with early online voting or conduct in-person voting at the convention beginning on August 19.
In a statement, Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison said that the party would hold a “transparent and older process” to select a candidate to defeat Donald Trump in November. He added that details of the candidate selection process would be announced soon. The nominee must secure majority support from over 4,600 Democratic delegates. If no candidate achieves a majority, the voting process will be repeated among more than 700 superdelegates, consisting of senior party officials, including members of Congress, governors, and former presidents and vice presidents, until a majority is reached.
There is a significant possibility that another candidate may announce their intention to run for president. However, any third candidate would need to persuade delegates quickly, and with less than a month until the convention, it seems unlikely that they could defeat Harris in a primary. Notably, access to the full list of Democratic delegates is restricted to DNC officials and the Biden campaign, including Vice President Harris, which could further disadvantage any potential challenger.
Securing campaign funds is another critical issue. Harris can legally inherit the campaign funds held by Biden’s re-election team. In contrast, the situation becomes more complicated if another candidate is nominated. According to CNBC, a third candidate might face issues with transferring campaign funds to a political action committee or refunding donors due to the need for donor consent. Carol Hamilton, a Biden campaign finance committee member, told CNBC, “The Democratic Party will unite around Harris,” and added, “I believe everyone who supported Biden will now support Harris.”
Most Commented