President Biden’s unprecedented withdrawal from the presidential race on Sunday, just weeks before the Democratic National Convention, has thrown a new twist in this year’s election cycle.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in a letter posted to social media. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
In another post, Biden offered a full endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him: “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”
What’s next for the Democratic Party as they hurtle toward a convention and the November election against Republican nominee Donald Trump? Here’s a breakdown.
Will Kamala Harris automatically replace Biden?
No. Biden is still president and says he has no plans to step down until after his term ends in January 2025. Harris’ government role as vice president elevates her in the event that Biden vacates the presidency itself — not his campaign. The Democratic National Convention has its own process for selecting presidential nominees in this scenario, and Harris would have to follow it to secure the nomination.
Who will the Democrats consider as possible presidential nominees?
Yahoo News broke down the leading contenders. Some of the most frequently cited names include Vice President Kamala Harris, California. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a former NASA astronaut, has also recently emerged as a potential dark horse contender.
Is Harris considered the frontrunner?
Yes. According to the Associated Press, Harris has several key advantages. She has the ability to access Biden’s campaign funds. She would be a historic nominee as a Black woman. As her supporters are sure to argue, millions of voters already voted for a Biden-Harris ticket four years ago knowing she would be next in line. And earlier this year, Biden won the Democratic primaries with her on the campaign trail as his intended successor.
But her approval ratings aren’t much better than Biden’s, giving an opportunity for other candidates to pitch themselves as more electable against Trump
How will Democrats actually select a new nominee? Will there be another vote?
The primary elections are over, and Biden won an overwhelming majority of the vote against token opposition. The nomination process moves to the roughly 3,900 pledged Democratic National Convention delegates who will now select the party’s candidate. Usually, the nomination is a foregone conclusion by the convention, but these party delegates will have to coalesce around a new nominee.
Who are these delegates?
Delegates represent their states’ Democratic voters at the convention. As the New York Times noted, “They are lawyers and school board members, labor activists and faith leaders, lifelong Democrats and party newcomers. Some of them just turned 18; others are pushing 80.”
The delegate-selection process varies from state to state; some are elected and others are selected. About 99% were pledged to support Biden. According to the Associated Press, candidates’ campaigns are allowed to “review and alter each state’s slate of delegates pledged to them, ensuring that they are filled by loyal supporters.” In short, many of the delegates are enthusiastic Biden backers.
Convention delegates typically hold a ceremonial role because they are obligated to in “good conscience” support the candidate they are pledged to, according to convention rules. With Biden out of the race, they are free to vote how they want.
These Democrats now hold enormous influence over the direction of their party.
What are ‘automatic’ delegates or superdelegates?
In addition to the roughly 3,900 pledged delegates, there are about 700 “automatic” delegates, sometimes called unpledged delegates or superdelegates. These are governors, members of Congress and Democratic Party officials.
But, importantly, they do not get to vote in the first convention roll call vote. Democrats “adopted this rule after the 2016 election in order to limit the power of unpledged delegates,” the Associated Press reported.
What is an open convention?
An open convention is a scenario in which multiple candidates are competing and the delegates are free to vote for their choice. Now that Biden has withdrawn, this will occur if Democrats don’t coalesce around one consensus nominee.
What is a brokered convention?
A brokered convention occurs if no candidate gets a majority of the first roll call vote. The roughly 700 superdelegates would then join the voting pool, and the convention floor would seek consensus amid more votes. Brokered conventions are also sometimes called multiple ballot or multiballot conventions.
“Rules would be established and there would be roll call votes for the names placed into nomination,” Reuters reported.
“It could take several rounds of voting for someone to get a majority and become the nominee. The last brokered convention when Democrats failed to nominate a candidate on the first ballot was in 1952.
What happens to Biden’s millions of fundraising dollars?
Because Biden’s funds are under a joint Biden–Harris ticket, the vice president would have access to his campaign war chest if she were the nominee, Yahoo News reported. His campaign had about $95 million as of its latest filing at the end of June. If another candidate is the nominee, then the funds could be donated to the Democratic National Committee or a super-PAC, who could then use those funds to back the Democratic campaign.
How is the new vice presidential nominee chosen?
Elaine Kamarck, a longtime member of the DNC’s rules committee, told Politico that the next presidential nominee would be free to select their own vice president, “subject to the fact that the delegates would have to vote on them.”
“She’d need to find somebody who was broadly acceptable,” Kamarck said.
This could add to the drama around an already busy convention as politicians lobby for both parts of the ticket.
What are the key dates to watch?
Democrats had been moving forward with plans to hold a “virtual” roll call vote to lock in their nominee in advance of the convention. It’s unclear if Biden’s announcement will lead the convention rules committee to scrap that effort.
The Democratic convention is Aug. 19–22 in Chicago.
It’s unclear if the new nominee and the Trump campaign will agree to any debates.
The election itself is Nov. 5. Earlier in-person and mail-in voting options vary state by state, with many states sending out mail-in ballots more than a month in advance of Election Day.
