He Democratic Party is facing an unprecedented situation after this Sunday the President Joe Biden declined his candidacy for reelection, and must now find an orderly way to decide on his new presidential candidate in the race for the White House.
After making his decision public, President Biden announced that he would lend his support to the US Vice President Kamala Harrisas the new Democratic candidate to face the Former Republican President Donald Trumpless than four months before election day.
In this context, all eyes are on the party president, Jamie Harrisonwho has already promised a “transparent” and “orderly” process to define the new Democratic candidate.
In the coming days, the party is expected to take the next steps in the nomination process, since although Biden expressly endorsed Harris and she has the support of the bulk of his party, this fact cannot automatically make her the candidate.
As CNN reported in February, individual delegates will now select the party’s nominee in the Democratic Convention in Chicago or possibly during a virtual roster tentatively scheduled for early August.
Not only had delegates pledged to vote for Biden, they also received the endorsement of his campaign. So while a majority of convention delegates could decide to choose a new candidate, doing so would require mass defections by the president’s own supporters.
There is also another group to consider: the “superdelegates,” some 700 party leaders and elected officials who are automatically delegates to the convention based on their position. Under normal party rules, they cannot vote on the first ballot if they can change the nomination, but they are free to vote on subsequent ballots. On the other hand, the number of superdelegates can also change if someone dies or resigns.
The Republican Party could file legal challenges against the Democratic Party
On the other hand, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnsonwarned that the Republican Party Johnson could likely mount legal challenges against any attempt to replace Biden. “I think they have legal hurdles in some of these states, and I assume it will be litigated there and they’ll have to figure it out,” Johnson told CNN on Sunday.
“I mean Joe Biden was elected after a long, small ‘d’ democratic process by 14 million people who came out of those primaries,” he said, adding, “It’ll be very interesting to see if the so-called party of democracy, the Democrats, go into a back room somewhere and change things and put someone else at the top of the ticket.”
It’s unclear exactly what legal recourse Republicans might pursue, however, because Biden dropped out of the race before being formally nominated and Democratic Party rules allow party delegates to vote for a new nominee.
Source: Ambito
