Joe Biden quits White House race, backs Kamala Harris: What happens next?

The upheaval in US politics continues. Weeks after a disastrous debate against Donald Trump and many a gaffe, President Joe Biden has quit the White House race. Ending his election bid, he endorsed Vice President Kamal Harris to succeed him on Sunday.

While Harris has said she is “honoured” to receive Biden’s endorsement, she still has to win the nomination. And Biden’s decision might as a relief to many Democrats, but it poses challenges to them. The party has to navigate a shift that is unprecedented this late in an election year.

Despite support from Biden and top Democrats, it is unclear if Harris will become the nominee. There are no answers yet on what process the party could take to pick an alternative if any.

We take a look at the possibilities.

Why did Biden quit the White House race? Is he still the president?

Joe Biden decided to drop out of the presidential race after his poor debate performance against Donald Trump on 27 June. At 81, he was the oldest president running for a second term. His age and mental fitness have been under scrutiny and the speculation increased in recent weeks. After the debate debacle, many Democrat lawmakers urged Biden to withdraw as the presidential candidate.

As the pressure grew, Biden withdrew from the re-election . However, he has not quit as the US president. He will continue the rest of the term.

What do Democrats do now?

The traditional primary season has ended a while ago. And while Biden has backed Harris to be the party nominee in the November election, he cannot automatically make her the candidate.

Biden won every state primary and caucus earlier this year and only lost the territory of American Samoa. At least 3,896 delegates pledged to support him; this is much more than the amount needed to secure his party’s nomination.

After he releases the delegates, they are no longer pledged to a candidate, reports the BBC. They can vote for whomever they want.

How does the party pick a new nominee?

Individual delegates will select the party’s nominee on the convention floor or possibly during a virtual roll call.

With Biden stepping aside, Democrats start with an open convention. The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago from August 19 to August 22.

What was supposed to be a coronation for Biden now becomes an open contest in which nearly 4,700 delegates will be responsible for picking a new standard-bearer to challenge Republican Donald Trump.

A candidate needs signatures from at least 300 delegates for their name to appear on the ballot. Only 50 signatures can come from a state.

An initial round of voting will be held among 3,900 delegates, which include voters considered to be loyal to the Democratic party. If no candidate receives a majority after this round, it is followed by more rounds. These rounds will include superdelegates, party leaders and elected officials, who will all cast their votes until a nominee is picked, reports the BBC.

A candidate needs 1,976 delegate votes to secure the party nomination.

But the party need not wait for the convention. Democrats could even go forward with their plans for an early virtual vote – a move they’d planned to make sure Biden was selected ahead of Ohio’s general election ballot deadline.

What does Kamala Harris do next?

The immediate burden is on Harris to solidify support across almost 4,000 delegates from US states, territories and the District of Columbia, plus more than 700 so-called superdelegates that include party leaders, certain elected officials and former presidents and vice presidents, reports The Associated Press (AP).

The vice president has already started sending out fundraising emails. “I am running to be president of the United States," read one such message. “I am honoured to have the president’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”

She said she needed Americans in the election “fight”, asking them to donate anything starting from $20 (Rs 1,673) to $500 (Rs 41,829), or “other” amounts, reports the BBC.

Who could challenge Harris?

As more and more Democrats opined that Biden should drop out of the race, several names started doing the rounds. These include California Governor Gavin Newsom , Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

But Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020 and was considered a potential replacement for Biden, praised Harris, saying she’s the person to “take up the torch [and] defeat Donald Trump”.

Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer was considered a top contender to replace Biden. However, she told AP at her book launch earlier this month that she would not run for president even if Biden dropped out. Now reports in the US media said that Whitmer will not challenge Harris.

However, some of these candidates could be considered for the role of vice president if Harris wins the Democratic nomination.

New challengers could come up. Sources close to Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia independent, said he’s considering re-registering as a Democrat and throwing his hat into the ring to run for president, reports CNN.

According to Katty Kay, US special correspondent, for the BBC, “As more and more Democratic leaders follow President Joe Biden and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, it will now be increasingly difficult for another Democrat to mount a serious, substantive challenge to her and claim that they should be the party’s candidate instead of Harris.”

Which Democrats are backing Harris?

An “overwhelming majority” of the Democratic Party’s 57 state party leaders have voted to back Harris to replace Biden as the nominee, according to the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC).

“I am proud that state party chairs, vice chairs and executive directors across the country are overwhelmingly uniting behind Vice President Kamala Harris,” the organisation’s chair Ken Martin says in a statement on X.

Apart from Buttigieg and Whitmer, who were seen as contenders to replace Harris, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar have endorsed the VP.

Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper, whose name has come up as a potential VP pick for Harris if she becomes the Democratic candidate, said that Harris “has what it takes”.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X that Harris “will be the next president of the United States”. Newsom, who was earlier touted as a potential replacement for Biden, threw his support behind Harris too, describing her as “tough, fearless, tenacious”.

Former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both Democrats, also endorsed Harris in a statement.

Still, others, including Pelosi and former President Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president for eight years, thanked Biden for his patriotism but did not yet throw their support behind Harris or any other candidate, reports Reuters.

“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Obama said in a statement. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”

The truth remains that Harris also has not been viewed as an especially beloved or empowered vice president. But the best scenario for her and the Democrats is to quickly garner support and project a united front if they want to beat Trump.

With inputs from agencies