Biden’s selection There are Democrats who favor Kamala Harris. What takes place after that?

After withdrawing from the US presidential contest, President Joe Biden declared his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee.

Though Ms. Kamala Harris seemed to have rapidly garnered the support required to become the party’s official presidential candidate, the choice placed the party into unknown territory.

However, nothing is finalized just yet, including her potential choice for running mate in the election.

Is Biden still the US president?

Yes, on November 5th, he officially concluded his campaign for reelection to the White House.

He has promised to hold the office until January, when his replacement will be properly sworn in.

Senior Republicans have called for Mr. Biden to resign immediately, though.

 

Is Kamala Harris now the Democrats’ presidential candidate?

Despite having Mr. Biden’s support, Ms. Harris was not certain to easily unseat him as the Democratic nominee for president.

She now seems to have an unchallenged degree of support inside her party, nevertheless.

Her supporters include important party delegates as well as other prominent individuals who could have launched a campaign for the nomination.

Those chosen to represent their electoral district as delegates attend the Democratic National Convention (DNC), the primary nominating convention for the party, which begins on August 19.

Hundreds of delegates who had supported Mr. Biden before he announced his withdrawal from the presidential contest transferred their allegiance to Ms. Harris. According to an Associated Press count, she met the necessary threshold of 1,976 the following day.

Their votes are unlikely to change, but their vows of support are not enforceable until the DNC.

There is no contemporary precedence for the circumstance that Mr. Biden’s decision created. Lyndon Baines Johnson gave up on his 1968 reelection campaign, the last time an incumbent US president did so.

Could other candidates come forward and how will the nominee be confirmed?

A multitude of possible successors surfaced as calls for Mr. Biden to withdraw from the race increased. However, Ms. Kamala Harris has not yet had a legitimate challenger present themselves.

The vice president’s hand is strengthened by the support shown to her by several of Mr. Biden’s purported successors. Among them are Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

For the first time in many years, an open convention may take place under the increasingly improbable scenario that the Democratic Party does not unify behind a single candidate. The choice of which of the several candidates to support would be left up to the delegates.

For their names to appear on the ballot, candidates must obtain the signatures of at least 300 delegates, with no more than 50 of them coming from a single state.

The first round of voting would be conducted among the 3,900 pledged delegates, which includes supporters of the Democratic Party.

There would be additional voting rounds if after this initial round no candidate secured a majority of the votes. Superdelegates, party leaders, and elected officials would all vote in these rounds until a nominee was selected.

How does the winning candidate make their VP pick?

Compared to selecting a presidential nominee, this process is typically less formal, and the nominee’s choice is typically accepted as their running mate.

Should Ms. Kamala Harris succeed Mr. Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, several of the well-known Democrats who are now endorsing her, including Mr. Shapiro, as well as others like Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois, are being considered as potential running mates.

If she is elected, her running mate would serve as her vice president.

What happens with the money pledged to Biden?

Campaign finance experts predict that if Ms. Kamala Harris is certified as the Democratic nominee, the tens of millions of dollars accumulated by Mr. Biden—who was on the same electoral ticket as her—may go straight to her.

Federal Election Commission commissioner Dara Lindenbaum told the New York Times that this was “not an open question.” It’s really evident, she continued.

Republicans, on the other hand, have hinted that they want to contest this money transfer, citing the fact that Mr. Biden was not yet formally nominated by his party at the time of his withdrawal from the presidential contest.

It is unclear what would happen to the money that the Biden-Harris campaign has amassed if someone other than Ms. Harris is chosen as the nominee.

 

Also Read : Enough votes are cast for Kamala Harris to secure the Democratic nomination.

She has garnered the support of more than the 1,976 delegates required to clinch the nomination in the first round of voting, according to an Associated Press survey released on Monday night.