WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Shortly after President announced that he would , Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison had a message: There would be no automatic coronation for his replacement.
鈥淚n the coming days, the party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward,鈥� Harrison said in a statement. 鈥淭his process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the party. are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.鈥�
The comment reflected the reality that while Vice President is emerging as the prohibitive favorite to become the party's nominee, it's not so simple. And, for now, the party isn't offering many details on what happens next.
Some DNC members had already begun privately discussing contingency plans for the possibility that Biden would step aside prior to his decision to do so on Sunday. A committee setting the party鈥檚 rules for , which opens Aug. 19 in Chicago, will gather virtually on Wednesday to discuss the next steps.
Harris has to formally secure the nomination from the around 4,700 鈥� including those pledged to Biden, as well as the elected officials, former presidents and other party elders known as superdelegates.
Wearing sweats and having a dinner of anchovy pizza with staff members at the vice president's residence on Sunday, Harris spent 10-plus hours calling more than 100 party leaders, members of Congress, governors, labor leaders and leaders of advocacy and civil rights organizations. She was spreading the message she intends to earn the Democratic nomination, aides say.
Biden won Democratic primaries in every state, and Harris was on the ticket as his running mate. His tapping her as his successor while bowing out of the race further strengthens her case, as does the endorsements of party heavyweights. Other top Democrats openly backed the vice president even before Biden abandoned his reelection bid, urging him to 鈥減ass the torch鈥� to her in the wake of his against Republican nominee last month.
鈥淔olks will be weighing in and they should. I think we鈥檙e seeing a lot of coalescing behind the vice president,鈥� said Rahna Epting, executive director of the progressive organization MoveOn. 鈥淎nd that's important because, as we saw throughout the Biden debate fallout, there is momentum that can be built one way or the other, and it is important for us to build momentum toward unity.鈥�
Ken Martin, president of the Association of State Democratic Committees, which represents the 57 parties in the states and territories, said Harris was the obvious choice: 鈥淗aving served alongside President Biden, she is ready on day one as a candidate and as our next president.鈥� She was also endorsed by the 1.75-million-member American Federation of Teachers union.
But Democratic rules state only that delegates 鈥渋n all good conscience鈥� vote for the candidate they were elected to represent, with no mechanism for defectors. And some in the party have endorsed an open nominating process.
There鈥檚 been active debate about how to proceed among lawmakers, major donors and former high-ranking officials of the Biden, Obama and Clinton administrations, said a Democrat with deep ties to the Biden administration.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations, argued that Harris would benefit from a competitive mini-primary ahead of the Democratic convention, because it would help solidify her as a strong candidate and diminish criticism that she鈥檚 been undemocratically anointed. That's a charge the has already sought to use against her, and could loom large in the battle for undecided voters in battleground states.
Such a scenario might leave Democrats heading into their convention without a clear nominee, though, and perhaps choosing one via a series of potentially messy floor votes. That could mean top Democratic candidates looking to replace Biden resorting to visiting individual state delegations to lobby 鈥� a process unseen since 1960, when Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy jockeyed for support during their party's convention in Los Angeles.
If that happened, in addition to Harris, many other leading Democrats could vie for the nomination, including the likes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and California Rep. Ro Khanna 鈥� though many say they're endorsing Harris.
Inside the White House, meanwhile, there鈥檚 low expectation that Harris will get a serious challenge, according to a person familiar with deliberations who requested anonymity to discuss the private conversations.
Others who have been mentioned as viable contenders 鈥� including Shapiro and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper 鈥� have also both endorsed Harris and would seem unlikely to run in light of Biden鈥檚 backing her, and the expected fundraising advantage she would hold over anyone who鈥檇 enter the field.
The DNC had planned to hold a virtual roll call to choose its nominee ahead of the convention, in order to meet Ohio ballot eligibility rules. That state's original ballot deadline was Aug. 7, and though the Legislature has since approved a law nullifying that, it doesn鈥檛 take effect until Sept. 1.
DNC lawyers say that means the party could face legal challenges in Ohio if it fails to name their party鈥檚 nominee prior to the state鈥檚 original deadline. But the convention rules committee has said it won鈥檛 set a date for the virtual roll call 鈥� which could take place over several days 鈥� before Aug. 1.
Some Democrats fear a host of other GOP legal challenges, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had defended Biden staying in the race by arguing that replacing him might trigger 鈥渁 presidential election 小蓝视频 decided by Clarence Thomas and the Supreme Court鈥� 鈥� like what happened during the 2000 presidential election and the disputed recount in Florida.
At Wednesday's conventions rules committee meeting, members could establish virtual roll call rules and a process to nominate Harris or create a more open process for choosing a nominee, according to a person familiar with the process who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Harrison, the DNC chair, refrained from endorsing Harris in a statement, saying only, "In short order, the American people will hear from the Democratic Party on next steps and the path forward for the nomination process.鈥�
A somber Harrison also joined a virtual meeting of the convention credentials committee on Sunday, telling members, 鈥淚'm emotional.鈥�
鈥淚 still support my president,鈥� Harrison said of Biden. "And we will get through this, my friends, as we always do.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this report.
Will Weissert And Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press
