President Joe Biden has ended his re-election bid, jump starting a process by which the Democratic Party is faced with choosing a replacement to head their presidential ticket.
With a growing number of Democrats pressing the 81-year-old Biden to step aside after his fumbling debate performance late last month spurred unease about his apparent decline and electability, the president announced on Sunday that he was dropping out of the 2024 race and focus on completing the remainder of his term.
Soon afterward, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. Harris later said she intended to “earn and win” the nomination. However, she may not ultimately get the nod.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) had been set to formallynominate Biden, who won enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee during primary season, with a virtual roll call vote in August before the party’s convention in Chicago during the latter half of the month.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison released a statement after Biden bowed out, saying, “In the coming days, the Party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November.”
He added, “This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the Party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.”
NBC News published a flowchart last week outlining possible scenarios of what could happen next.
With Biden willingly stepping aside before getting the nomination, more than 3,900 pledged delegates may have the first crack at picking Biden’s replacement in an initial ballot.
One candidate would emerge victorious if this person receives a majority. But, if no one secures a majority on the first ballot, then the more than 700 “superdelegates” are permitted to join in the voting. More ballots would follow until someone wins a majority.
The flowchart further showed what it would take for Biden to be replaced if he had already received the nomination: Democratic Party rules dictate that the president would either have to resign, die, or suffer a “disability” as decided by the DNC.
In such a situation, the chair of the DNC would meet with Democrat leaders in Congress and in the Democratic Governors Association to recommend a replacement. After that, the full DNC would vote on selecting a nominee.
One point of caution made by NBC News was that the DNC could vote to change its rules governing how a replacement candidate is picked.
There is also the question of what happens to Biden’s $91 million campaign war chest.
As reported by The New York Times, Harris would have pretty seamless access to the money if given the nomination because she was Biden’s running mate. Another pick would create a messier situation that could entail refunds or transfers to outside groups.
Yet another issue that could befall Democrats is ballot access.
Experts told The Washington Post that replacing Biden on the ballot if he dropped out before the nomination would be a relatively easy process, but if it happened afterwards, it would open up the possibility of legal challenges to keep the new ticket off the ballot.
Speculation has already begun in regards to who Harris might pick as her running mate, with Governors Andy Beshear (D-KY), Roy Cooper (D-NC), and Josh Shapiro (D-PA) among those being discussed.
Other high-profile members of the party could jump into the race and get the nod instead of Harris. Some other Democrats who are often talked about as potential successors to Biden include Governors Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI).
Former President Donald Trump has been campaigning for a second term this election cycle on the GOP side.
Among the others vying for the White House is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ended his bid as a Democrat to run as an independent.
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