DNC issues 3-day ultimatum to any potential Harris challengers

24 July 2024

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is telling any would-be challengers to Vice President Kamala Harris to either file their paperwork in the next three days or to wait until 2028.

Politico reported Wednesday that the DNC is hoping to close the door on any chances of a fractured party by the end of the week. Delegates who will officially select the party's nominee at next month's Democratic National Convention recently approved rules for the upcoming virtual roll call on July 30. Any candidates aiming to ask delegates to support their bid for the nomination will need to submit their paperwork confirming their candidacy by Saturday at 6 PM Eastern Time.

Then, in order for any candidate to qualify for the virtual roll call on August 7, they will need to gather 300 signatures from delegates — with no more than 50 coming from the same state — by Tuesday, July 30. According to Politico, the August 7 deadline is set in stone, given Ohio's ballot access deadlines.

“Failure to certify both nominees in advance of each state’s ballot access deadline opens us up to very real political and litigation risk, both before and after the election,” DNC legal counsel Pat Moore told the publication. “Republicans will use this moment to do what they do: to sue, to try to bar us from the ballot, or to try to disqualify our voters.”

Should no potential candidates file paperwork by Saturday, then Harris will be guaranteed the Democratic Party's nomination at the convention next month. However, the convention's nomination will likely be a formality, as Harris has already managed to unite virtually the entire party behind her candidacy since President Joe Biden issued a statement confirming his exit from the 2024 race — and his endorsement of his vice president — on Sunday evening.

Since Biden stepped aside, Harris has been accumulating endorsements from popular Democratic governors like Andy Beshear (D-Kentucky), Phil Murphy (D-New Jersey), Gavin Newsom (D-California) and Josh Shapiro (D-Pennsylvania). Earlier this week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) threw their weight behind Harris' bid.

"Kamala Harris is now the right person to take up the torch, defeat Donald Trump, and succeed Joe Biden as president," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran against Biden and Harris for the 2020 Democratic nomination, told the Wall Street Journal.

Harris' nomination appeared inevitable almost as soon as Biden endorsed her. In the 24 hours following Biden's announcement, Harris raised a record-setting $81 million in campaign donations. That's almost $30 million more than former President Donald Trump raised following his 34 felony convictions. She raised another $45 million the next day, meaning the vice president has added $126 million to the $240 million war chest she inherited from Biden.

Harris' campaign has also signed up roughly 100,000 new volunteers to reach out to voters since her bid for the presidency launched last weekend, according to WBAL journalist Jayne Miller. These volunteers will likely be deputized to turn out voters in major battleground states likely to play a pivotal role in deciding the winner of the 2024 election, like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The Democratic National Convention will kick off in Chicago, Illinois on August 19, and will end on August 22, likely with Harris formally accepting her party's presidential nomination.

Click here to read Politico's report in full.

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