Democratic officials, donors back Harris after Biden exits US presidential race

Momentum appeared to be on the side of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, as a groundswell of Democratic lawmakers, governors and financial donors expressed their support for her to be the party’s presidential nominee in the November election after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

Biden followed his surprise announcement Sunday by issuing his own endorsement of Harris to face former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee.

Harris, who is 59, quickly announced that she would seek the nomination. She was a senator from the country’s most populous state, California, when Biden picked her in 2020 as his running mate after Harris’ challenge to Biden and other primary contenders fell apart.

President Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 race will reshape the Democratic presidential ticket just weeks before the Democratic national convention.

Biden immediately backed Harris as the party’s nominee

Biden accrued nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates during the campaign. By endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden is encouraging the delegates to vote for Harris, but they aren’t required to vote for her

Prior to Biden’s announcement, the Democratic Party was considering holding a virtual vote of delegates before the official Democratic National Convention, set to take place Aug. 19-22.

Party leaders are scrambling to unify around a single candidate

If the party holds the virtual vote and Harris receives a majority of the delegates’ votes, she would become the Democratic presidential nominee.

If no candidate receives a majority, the nominee would be selected in an open convention

If the virtual vote is held but a majority winner does not emerge, the decision moves to the August convention.

Facing off against Trump and Vance

The Democratic Party faces a tight timeline to coalesce around a new nominee and mount a competitive general election campaign against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance.

Numerous party officials have said they support Harris to replace Biden as the party’s standard-bearer against Trump. But others want to open next month’s Democratic National Convention to other nominations.

Her approval ratings in national surveys have largely reflected Biden’s, but some surveys of likely voters show Harris faring slightly better than he does against Trump. In a few, she has polled ahead of Trump.

Harris said in a statement that Biden, by withdrawing from the race against Trump, “is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.”

“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party – and unite our nation – to defeat Donald Trump,” she said. “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”

VOA