Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday received President Joe Biden’s endorsement to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket in the race against Donald Trump.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said in a Sunday statement. “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
Biden’s endorsement puts Harris on a glidepath to the Democratic nomination. The 59-year old vice president offers a younger alternative for Democrats who grew increasingly concerned about Biden’s age and fitness following his disastrous debate performance against Trump in June.
“Democrats will rally around her. I’m sure they will,” said Carol Hamilton, a member of Biden’s campaign finance committee, told CNBC in an interview. “You can’t get a much better resume than hers running for president.”
Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, would be the first Black woman and individual of South Asian descent to secure the nomination of a major party. But she still has several tasks on her to-do list before anything becomes official.
Veepstakes
A major open question about Harris’ path forward is who would be her running mate.
The following names have already been floated: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Even before Biden announced he would drop out, Democratic donors were reportedly pouring in money to launch a vetting process to select a new vice presidential candidate.
Many of those same names are also on the list of contenders to take the top of the ticket for Democrats who have not immediately endorsed Harris and instead want an open nomination process.
Secure nomination
Though Harris has a significant leg-up with Biden’s endorsement, she is not the Democratic nominee until the necessary number of delegates say so.
Biden has released the more than 4,000 delegates whom he won during the primary. Those delegates are now free to select any new candidate. The nomination process is set to start as a virtual roll call in early August ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which begins Aug. 19.
A candidate has to win a majority of delegates to secure the nomination, per the DNC’s rules. If no one wins a simple majority, over 700 superdelegates will cast their own votes. The voting process will repeat itself until a candidate wins a majority and can be officially designated the Democratic nominee.
Inherit Biden funding
Should Harris become the official Democratic nominee, she is likely the easiest heir to the Biden campaign’s war chest of donations because her name is already on the Federal Election Commission filings.
“As of right now, there’s some debate between different election lawyers over whether or not the money can be transferred before the nomination is…
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