DNC chair says there will be an 'orderly process' to choose new Dem nominee

With President Joe Biden stepping down from the 2024 presidential race, his pledged delegates will now have to vote for a new candidate at the Democratic National Convention next month. The DNC Chair has said that the party will be going through an "orderly process" to choose a new Democratic nominee in light of Biden dropping out. 

Following his announcement that he would no longer seek re-election, Biden publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. However, the official process of selecting a nominee will not be carried out until the convention and may not necessarily be Harris just because of the endorsement. 

In response to apparent uncertainty on the process, DNC chair Jaime Harrison released a statement explaining that the party has a "firm commitment to nominating and electing a Democratic president.” 

"Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people. Democrats are prepared and united in our resolve to win in November," Harrison said in a statement to Newsweek. 

Due to being largely uncontested in the primaries, Biden has already secured 3,896 pledged delegates who were initially set to vote for him because he won their states’ primaries earlier in the year. But now, delegates will participate in a scheduled virtual roll call prior to the convention where they will voice who they believe the nominee should be. While Biden's endorsement of Harris suggests that his delegates will likely vote for her, they are not required to do so.  

Harris has received public endorsements from prominent Democrats, reinforcing the party’s apparent plan to have her as the nominee. But she has also faced significant opposition within the party, with criticisms focusing on her poor polling numbers against Donald Trump. When President Biden announced he would not be seeking re-election, notable Democrats such as Hakeem Jeffries and Barack Obama released statements that applauded the decision but avoided mentioning Harris as the new nominee. 

Should no candidate secure a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates in the first round of voting, over 700 “superdelegates” would then vote in the next round. These superdelegates, mostly senior party leaders or elected officials, have significant influence and could sway the nomination process. Voting would continue until a candidate receives a majority of delegates. At that point, they become the nominee.