WASHINGTON (AP) — Shortly after President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing his re-election campaign, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison had a message: There will be no automatic coronation for his successor.
“In the coming days, the party will begin a transparent and orderly process to move forward,” Harrison said in a statement. “This process will be governed by the party’s established rules and procedures. Our delegates are ready to take their responsibilities seriously and quickly present a nominee to the American people.”
The comment reflects the fact that while Vice President Kamala Harris is emerging as the clear favorite for the party’s nomination, it’s not that straightforward. And right now, the party isn’t giving out many details about what will happen next.
Some DNC members had already begun privately discussing contingency plans in the event that Biden resigned before Biden’s decision on Sunday. A committee that sets party rules for the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 19 in Chicago, will meet virtually on Wednesday to discuss next steps.
Harris must formally secure the nomination from the roughly 4,700 delegates at the Democratic National Convention, including those who have pledged their support to Biden, as well as elected officials, former presidents and other party elders known as superdelegates.
Harris wore sweatsuits and ate anchovy pizza with aides at the vice president’s residence on Sunday. For more than 10 hours, she made phone calls to more than 100 party leaders, members of Congress, governors, union leaders and representatives of advocacy and civil rights organizations, spreading the message that she wants to win the Democratic nomination, aides say.
Biden won the Democratic primaries in every state, and Harris was on the ballot as his running mate. His naming her as his successor while he dropped out of the race further strengthens her position, as does the support of party bigwigs. Other leading Democrats openly endorsed the vice president even before Biden abandoned his re-election bid, urging him to “pass the torch” to her after his dismal performance in the debate against Republican nominee Donald Trump last month.
“People are going to voice their opinions, and they should. I think we’re seeing strong unity behind the vice president,” said Rahna Epting, executive director of the progressive organization MoveOn. “And that’s important because, as we’ve seen throughout the Biden debate, there’s momentum that can be built one way or the other, and it’s important for us to build momentum toward unity.”
Ken Martin, president of the Association of State Democratic Committees, which represents the 57 parties in the states and territories, said Harris was the obvious choice: “Having served alongside President Biden, she is ready from day one as a candidate and as our next president.” She was also endorsed by the 1.75 million-member American Federation of Teachers union.
But democratic rules simply state that delegates must vote “in good faith” for the candidate they are representing. No mechanism is provided for defectors. And some in the party favor an open nomination process.
There is a lively debate among lawmakers, major donors and former high-ranking officials from the Biden, Obama and Clinton administrations about how to proceed, said a Democrat with close ties to the Biden administration.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations, argued that Harris would benefit from a contested mini-primary before the Democratic convention because it would facilitate cement her as a mighty candidate and reduce criticism that she was selected undemocratically, an accusation the Trump team has already planned to utilize against her and that could play a gigantic role in the battle for undecided voters in swing states.
Such a scenario, however, could result in Democrats going into their convention without a clear candidate, potentially choosing that candidate in a series of potentially cluttered floor votes. That could mean that top Democratic candidates seeking to replace Biden would have to resort to individual delegation visits to states to lobby – a process not seen since 1960, when Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy courted support during their party’s convention in Los Angeles.
If that happens, Harris could be joined by many other leading Democrats vying for the nomination, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and California Rep. Ro Khanna – although many say they support Harris.
Meanwhile, the White House is not very confident that Harris could become a grave challenger, according to a person familiar with the deliberations who requested anonymity to discuss the private talks.
Other candidates who have been mentioned as possible candidates – including Shapiro and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper – have also endorsed Harris, and given Biden’s support and the expected fundraising advantage she would have over any other candidate, a run is unlikely.
The DNC had planned to hold a virtual vote before the convention to choose its nominee in order to comply with Ohio’s voting eligibility rules. The original voting deadline in that state was August 7, and although lawmakers have since passed a law removing that deadline, it doesn’t take effect until September 1.
DNC lawyers say that means the party could face legal trouble in Ohio if it doesn’t announce its nominee before the state’s original deadline. But the convention’s rules committee has said it won’t set a date for the virtual roll call — which could last several days — before Aug. 1.
Some Democrats fear a series of further legal challenges from Republicans, including New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had defended Biden’s continued presence in the race, arguing that replacing him could “trigger a presidential election that will be decided by Clarence Thomas and the Supreme Court” – as happened in the 2000 presidential election and the controversial recount of votes in Florida.
At the convention’s Rules Committee meeting on Wednesday, members could set rules for a virtual roll call and process to nominate Harris, or create a more open process to select a nominee, according to a person familiar with the process who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Harrison, the chairman of the DNC, refrained from supporting Harris in a statement and said only: “Soon the American people will hear from the Democratic Party what will happen next and how the nomination process will proceed.”
A dejected Harrison also attended a virtual meeting of the Congressional Credentials Committee on Sunday, telling members, “I’m emotional.”
“I still support my president,” Harrison said of Biden. “And we will get through this, my friends, as we always do.”
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Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this report.
