Kamala Harris most likely to succeed Joe Biden as Democratic nominee

With Joe Biden out of the running for the US presidential election, Kamala Harris is the most likely candidate to take over the Democratic ticket. But not everyone has officially endorsed Harris, leaving room for the Democrats to field a potential new candidate for November.

After weeks of speculation, US president Joe Biden announced his decision to drop out of the presidential race on Sunday night. This means that the Democratic Party will have to nominate a new candidate, which will happen at a convention in August.

This will most likely be vice president Kamala Harris, as she has some key advantages over other potential candidates. Firstly, Biden announced his support for her candidacy shortly after he announced his own. She also has the backing of influential Democrats such as Bill and Hillary Clinton. And she is currently the only official candidate for the nomination.

As Harris was already part of the Democratic ticket, serving as Biden's vice president, she also has access to the millions of dollars donated to Biden's campaign. Other potential candidates would find it more difficult to secure these funds, putting them at a significant disadvantage to Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Divided Democrats

But Harris is not yet assured of the nomination. Many other Democrats stopped short of endorsing Harris on Sunday. Influential party members such as Nancy Pelosi and former president Barack Obama seem to prefer a more competitive nomination process at the convention in August.

Harris is also not much more popular with the American public than Biden. Recent polls show her narrowly trailing Trump in the country's so-called battleground states, states that do not favour either party and will decide the election. And the American presidency is a glass ceiling that women have yet to break.

Whether or not Harris becomes the official nominee, Biden's decision to withdraw has reinvigorated the Democratic campaign. The Biden-Harris campaign received 46.7 million dollars in the hours after the announcement, more than any other day in the 2024 presidential race.

^{PHOTO © JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP}