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 officially made,” said Anna Massoglia, a researcher at the nonprofit campaign finance database OpenSecrets.
She noted that there is a general consensus among election lawyers that believe Harris can “just take over” the Biden campaign’s war chest. But “a very small sliver” of dissenters, as she put it, claim Harris would need to officially become the nominee before she can access the full pot.
If Harris does not ultimately become the nominee, the scenarios become more complicated. Among them, the campaign could convert the funds into a political action committee or issue refunds to donors who would reallocate their gifts.
Gaining support
Harris will not automatically inherit the support of Biden’s allies, though in the hours after the president dropped out a flurry of endorsements began to trickle in.
Some of Biden’s close allies like South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton threw their support behind Harris.
But some messages of support for Biden notably left out a Harris endorsement, including former President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
On the donor side, Hamilton of Biden’s campaign finance committee said she does not think there will be “any problem” rallying fundraising support for Harris.
“I think everyone who supported the President supports Kamala and will step up to the plate,” she said.
