Within hours of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 election and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be his replacement, delegates who will decide the next Democratic nominee are already pledging their support for Harris.
On Sunday, the entire Democratic delegations of New Hampshire and North Carolina voted to support Harris. State delegations in Louisiana, Maryland, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina also voted to support Harris.
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After President Biden faced little opposition in this year's presidential primaries — winning nearly all of the possible 3,934 delegates for this year's convention, those delegates are free to vote for any candidate. It takes a majority, 1,968 delegates, to secure the nomination.
According to Decision Desk HQ, Harris has secured 690 delegates from the aforementioned state delegations. That would give her 35% of the delegates she would need to win the party's nomination.
Many Democrats with presidential rumored presidential aspirations have already announced endorsements for Harris, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
However, some have suggested that there should still be a contested convention.
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Sen. Joe Manchin, an independent from West Virginia who still caucuses with Democrats after leaving the party earlier this year, told CBS on Monday that he would like to see a "mini-primary." He made the comments while shooting down reports that he would be a candidate for the nomination.
"No one else is willing to speak up, we're just going to follow behind," Manchin said. "I am sorry, I don't agree with that. There are many things we need to discuss."
While at some point Democratic delegates will have a chance to weigh in, whether it be in a virtual primary or in person in Chicago next month, Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison did not have immediate clarity on Sunday about the next steps.
“The work that we must do now, while unprecedented, is clear. In the coming days, the Party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November," Harrison said. "This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the Party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people."
