US President Joe Biden has quit the US presidential race. Late on Monday (July 21), according to Indian Standard Time, Biden made a post from his official handle on X declaring that he will no longer be seeking a re-election in US Presidential Election 2024 and will instead endorse Vice-President Kamala Harris for the post of president. This means that Kamala Harris will go head-to-head with former US president Donald Trump who has already secured nomination from the Republican Party.
But is it all a given? Is Kamala Harris surely going to contest election as a Democratic Party nominee?
Well its not formal yet.
How does Democratic Party choose its presidential candidate?
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Like the Republican Party, Democratic Party has its own internal process to formalise who gets party nomination to contest for the post of president. The process takes place during Democratic National Convention (DNC) where Democratic Party delegates from across US vote for candidates and whoever gets the most votes gets the nomination. These delegates are elected during the Primaries, the intra-party election of sorts in which US citizens across the country who are Democratic Party supporters make their choice. Depending upon who the voters favour, the party delegates are assigned to that candidate.
He or she then gets vote from those delegates during the DNC.
Is it certain that Biden's delegates would support Kamala Harris?
As he announced his withdrawal from the presidential race on X, Biden endorsed Kamala to become the next US president. It's only proper that delegates who supported Biden during the Primaries would support Harris. But it is not a given and by no means legally binding to the fullest extent.
Democratic Party, which put huge pressure on Biden to quit, is expected to promptly put its weight behind Harris. In this case, Harris campaign would inherit the money and resources of the Biden campaign.
But in theory at least, and to some extent in practice depending upon what Democratic delegates plan to do during the DNC, there is space for other leaders within the Democratic Party to seek party nomination.
Who can challenge Harris from within Democratic Party?
The names that are being discussed are California Governor Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Michigan Governor Getchen Whitmar, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
All of these leaders had previously supported Biden.
So will DNC be a free-for-all?
In theory yes but unlikely. There is a thing called 'open convention' where multiple candidates can be floated other than the presumptive nominee. But the Democratic Party, keen to quickly get over with the chapter of replacing Biden, is likely to turn some internal screws to pacify dissenting camps and project a united front in the DNC scheduled to take place next month. The party is already trying win back ground from Trump, who is currently riding on a huge sympathy wave following recent assassination attempt.
