What would happen if Joe Biden stepped down? How the race to be the Democratic Party's nominee will unfold | US News

Could Joe Biden be replaced as the Democrats' presumptive nominee in the US presidential election in November?

There is confusion about his ability to defeat Republicans Donald Trump77, in the rematch, her voices increased after a special investigation said President Biden He portrayed himself as “An old man with a weak memory”.

But as America heads toward the 2024 elections, and Biden (81 years old) dominates the race for the Democratic nomination, what happens if he decides to withdraw – or others try to make that choice on his behalf?

Despite poor poll numbers and questions, including from some Democrats, about his age, Biden has stuck to his plan to seek a second term after clearing the field to serious Democratic primary challengers when he announced last year that he would run again.

Dean Phillips of Minnesota is the only other candidate for the nomination on the ballot, but he is not thought to pose a serious challenge or have a high enough profile.

The first few Democratic primaries have already been held in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

President Biden won all three states, meaning those states' delegates currently support him — though New Hampshire's delegates differ slightly.

Moreover, the deadline for candidate registration in many of the remaining 47 states has already passed.

There are 12 contests (11 states and Washington, D.C.) There is still time on the clock for a potential new entry into the Democratic race, but three of them expire on Friday – Connecticut, Indiana and Maryland.

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So, if President Biden, for example, withdraws this week, there will still be time for other Democrats to put their names on the ballot in some states.

But even if they did, the new entrant in the race would have no way of securing a majority of delegates at the ballot box.

In this case, the nominee will likely be decided at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

If so, we may see a wide range of presidential hopefuls such as Vice President Kamala Harris California Governor Gavin Newsom is competing to convince more than 4,000 Democratic delegates to grant them the nomination.

“If he withdraws before the conference, we will have an old-style conference where the delegates essentially have to make up their minds [on whom to vote for] “Regardless of who they were elected to represent,” said elections expert Elaine Kamark, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a member of the Democratic National Committee.

As President Biden's second-in-command, will the nomination automatically go to Ms. Harris?

not necessarily. She would likely benefit from their joint campaign infrastructure if she ran for president in his absence, but she has popularity issues of her own.

With no potential heir to President Biden in the wings, any competition to succeed him would be unpredictable.