Vice President Kamala Harris He is the only candidate seeking the Democratic presidential nomination after Tuesday night’s primary deadline.
According to the Democratic National Committee, 99% of delegates have signed a petition to nominate Harris.
Without internal competition, Democrats will avoid the messy fight that some party officials fear from President Joe Biden. stepped aside in the race less than two weeks ago.
“Our party has met this unprecedented moment with a transparent, democratic and orderly process and united behind a candidate with a proven record to lead us in the fight ahead,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement Tuesday night.
Delegates will begin attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month virtual voting Thursday morning, sticking with the party to make Harris’ nomination official existing plan finalize your candidate first The Ohio ballot entry deadline is August 7. Harris’ campaign said he would also pick a vice-presidential running mate before then.
After Biden dropped his re-election bid nine days ago, Democrats raced to rewrite the nomination rules, creating a lightning-fast nominating process that was open to anyone but almost immediately favored Harris.
Each candidate seeking the nomination had until 6:00 p.m. Tuesday to secure the support of at least 300 delegates; According to the Democratic National Committee, Harris was the only candidate to do so.
With almost the whole party united behind Harristhe only candidates who declared their intention to challenge him were a few unknowns with no known support base or funding.
Self-help author Marianne Williamson, who is running a long-running Democratic presidential campaign in 2020, said she planned to run for the nomination at the Chicago convention but ultimately decided against throwing her name into the ring. He suspended his campaign again Monday night.
“We did everything we could to get into the blitz primaries, the open convention, etc. But there was really no way the rules were there, Kamala was going full speed and all we could do was make noise,” Williamson told supporters. he wrote. “I was in a race to create fundamental change, yes – but not as an agent of chaos or metaphorical bomb thrower.”
Convention delegates will begin an unusual pre-convention virtual vote to confirm Harris as the top candidate. Voting will begin on Thursday and last several days, according to the party’s plans, with a ceremonial in-person call also planned for the convention.
Although the Democrats lack so-called superdelegates most of their powers a few years ago, they would be able to vote for Harris virtually, the DNC said, because Harris has already demonstrated that he has the support of a large majority, meaning superdelegates have no chance of changing the outcome.
Democrats had planned to virtually nominate Biden since May A problem in Ohio. The state initially set a deadline for all parties to submit their nominees until the Democratic National Convention, and has been slow to address the issue.
While Ohio election officials have argued that Democrats don’t need to take drastic measures like a virtual call ahead of the convention, conservative groups have already announced plans to sue if Democrats miss the state’s Aug. 7 deadline. Democrats say the party can’t risk litigation that could cost it a spot on the Ohio ballot this fall.