'Democracy' Saved

This weekend, US President Joe Biden formally bowed out of the 2024 US presidential race. The development came after months of assertions Biden would continue on as the Democratic Party nominee. Biden endorsed his vice president, former Senator Kamala Harris, to take his place and his campaign funds are reportedly being transferred to her nascent campaign.

Harris accepted, and announced she will seek the Democratic Party’s nomination.

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead,” Harris said in a statement. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.”

Biden moved to transfer his campaign's financial war chest to Harris, which former President Trump’s campaign has challenged by filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. The campaign's general counsel David Warrington argued that transferring the funds is little more than a “thinly veiled $91.5 million excessive contribution from one presidential candidate to another.”

Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UCLA, told CNN he doesn't think “most campaign finance lawyers believe that this is a best reading of the law,” but said the move could be tied up in FEC proceedings for years and won’t be resolved before the election.

According to campaign experts who spoke to the website Verify, Harris is allowed to use the campaign funds because she and Biden shared the same campaign account, which has ballooned to $91 million. The FEC has “long permitted candidates for president and vice president to share a campaign account,” said Daniel Weiner, director of the Brennan Center’s Elections and Government Program.

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Democrats reportedly plan to hold a virtual roll call vote to confirm their nominee in the first week of August, although the Democratic National Convention will not begin until August 19. Only 300 signatures will be required to qualify for a virtual ballot and an AP survey found Harris has the backing of more than 1,900 delegates as of Monday night.

Although Harris is not yet the party's official nominee, many Democratic lawmakers and elites have endorsed her candidacy and a majority of delegates to the party's convention have said they will back her.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, who many expected to take Biden’s place, quickly endorsed Harris on X, claiming no one is “better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision” than Harris.

A source from Harris’ campaign said she is working hard to win support from any challengers. “She’s already rallying all the potential candidates behind her,” the source said. “You’re going to see everyone fall into place.”

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been viewed as a possible Democratic contender for the White House, shrugged off Republican criticism that Harris’ rise to the top of the ticket is undemocratic. The Michigan governor joined other Democratic Party leaders in throwing her support behind Harris.

“It’s hard to take the Republican criticism seriously because one day it’s, ‘Joe Biden shouldn’t be running’ and the next day it’s, ‘well, he should be running,’” she said Thursday. “Give me a break.”

“I think it’s the right decision and that’s why we have a vice president,” Whitmer argued. “Kamala Harris has been his No. 2 for four years. No one should be surprised that if he steps away that she’s the one to step into the breach.”

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