Can Kamala Harris get Joe Biden’s delegates? 7 questions about what happens next.

President Biden’s decision Withdrawal from 2024 presidential race Having won the Democratic primary, the party is in an unprecedented position.

With just weeks left until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and less than four months until Election Day, they are running out of time to lock in a slate of candidates and build a campaign around an entirely new candidate. Democrats appear to be rallying around Biden’s preferred successor, Vice President Kamala Harrisshe is likely to become a presidential candidate.

Here are seven questions answered about what Harris needs to do before she can become a candidate, what the public selection process for the Democratic Party’s next presidential nominee looks like, and what Harris and her party will do next.

Harris is not the official Democratic nominee; support from Democratic leaders is not enough.

Harris acknowledged this and said she intends to “To win and earn this nomination“While she still technically may not become the nominee, she has locked up the support she needs, making it unlikely that anyone could mount a credible challenge against her.

She has obtained All 50 Democratic State Party Chairmen,include Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosiand many of her potential Democratic rivals. The list includes Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Maryland Governor Wes Mooreand North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Many of them are considered her Potential Vice Presidential Candidates.

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin leaves the Democratic Party Register as independent Earlier this year, he appeared to briefly consider re-registering as a Democrat but quickly said he Will not challenge Harris —even though he didn’t support her.

The Democratic National Committee’s Rules Committee is Held on Wednesday Establish a process whereby new candidates are chosen through an open process (essentially meaning that people other than party leaders have some say in the candidates).

In fact, some states August deadline Whether or not a candidate makes the ballot, including in Iowa, where the deadline is Aug. 16, could determine how the process plays out. That means a candidate could be chosen before the nearly 4,000 delegates gather for the convention, which begins Aug. 19. Conventions are where delegates typically formally vote to select the winner of a party’s primary as the official nominee — a process that was most recently on display at last week’s Republican National Convention.

The delegates are party loyalists — from poll workers to elected officials — who are assigned to each state or region by the party. They pledge to support the candidate who wins their state’s primary, but they can theoretically deviate from that goal in an election. DNC Ruleswhich provides that they “shall reflect the feelings of those who elect them in accordance with their conscience.”

Biden won more than 3,800 delegates in the Democratic primary. Now they will be freed and can vote for whichever candidate they wish. As of Monday afternoon, Harris had received 1,1152 She needs 1,986 delegates to win the nomination.

Each state delegation needs to decide for themselves whom to support.

Yet many of those who have convened in the hours since Biden’s announcement that he was dropping out appeared to be supporting Harris.

In making their case, many representatives mentioned that voters in their states Already supporting the Biden-Harris combination in the Democratic primary She is qualified to carry the torch. In that sense, they see themselves as upholding the will of Democratic voters, but they are not directly soliciting new input from voters — at least not formally.

Before Biden dropped out, the Democratic National Committee Plans for virtual roll call The Democratic National Committee adopted a virtual process during the pandemic, when roll call votes (usually conducted in person at conventions, where delegates formally announce their votes and choose candidates) had to be conducted remotely.

Democrats may now decide to hold a similar convention before the convention, in which if a majority of delegates support Harris, her nomination would be secured.

If not, the matter could go to a technically open convention, which hasn’t happened since 1968, when conventions have been about candidates, not about choosing them. But Harris has already secured so many delegates that she’s unlikely to face any real competition at the convention, and an open convention wouldn’t be as contentious as it was in 1968.

A public convention is simply a meeting of delegates to discuss who will be the candidates. This process is more similar to how presidential elections were held in the past, but The 1968 Democratic National Convention Collapse.

The electoral process has been like this ever since: Each state has a primary, many of which are held early in the presidential election cycle, followed by a convention that confirms the will of the voters through a ceremonial nominating process to energize the party before Election Day.

It’s unlikely this time, but something similar could happen. Given Harris’s rapid rallying of delegates to her side, a public convention seems unlikely at this point.

However, if this were to occur, the public meeting would proceed as follows.

It is important to understand that the process will consist of delegates voting at the convention floor to select the candidate they support.

A candidate needs the support of a majority of pledged delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot. If no candidate receives a majority, the convention holds an additional vote, and delegates continue to vote until someone emerges as the winner.

besides 749 Super Delegatesall of whom are well-known party leaders, from members of Congress to former presidents. If they vote en masse, they can quickly unite around a candidate (probably Harris) and help close the process. However, they cannot vote in the first round of the convention. They only participate in the vote when the convention goes to a second round or longer.

It has not yet been confirmed, but the Democratic National Committee’s meeting on Wednesday will be live-streamed. The Rules Committee is expected to set a schedule by then.

Harris can start campaigning right away. In fact, she has already started.

She can Withdrawal of Biden’s $240 million campaign funds Because she has joined the Biden-Harris campaign, any other Democrat will face an uphill battle against the resources Harris currently has unless they can self-fund their campaign.

The Democratic National Committee may not be able to formally endorse her until she clinchs the nomination, but that would require the party to move quickly to decide on a candidate.