With Biden out, will Ohio see a Democratic candidate before ballot deadline?
View a previous report on President Joe Biden’s exit from the race in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — First, Ohio changed its rules to give Democrats enough time to nominate President Joe Biden and get him on state ballots for November. Now, with Biden ending his reelection bid Sunday, the state’s rules — and temporary rules — are worth examining again.
The results of a special legislative session, which Gov. Mike DeWine called for in May, meant that Ohio’s election officials would delay the certification of candidates on the ballot to Sept. 1. The governor signed House Bill 2 on June 2, which gave Democrats the one-time extended window to finalize presidential and vice presidential picks for the November general election.
State law previously required this step be completed by Aug. 7. The change came from a scheduling conflict with the Democratic National Convention — which would have seen Biden officially nominated as the party’s candidate — set for the week of Aug. 19.
The Democratic National Committee had its own plan in place to address the Ohio deadline. It promised in May to pick Biden as the nominee in a virtual roll call ahead of the August convention. But with Biden exiting the race Sunday, that approach may no longer apply.
Kamala Harris stepped forward as a new candidate within the same day, armed with Biden’s endorsement. As of Monday, however, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said Harris wouldn’t be guaranteed the same roll call.
“In the coming days, the party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward,” Harrison said in a statement. “This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.“
In a prediction on July 8, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose did humor how the state’s ballot situation would play out if Biden dropped out — something even Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown called on the president to do. From his perspective, the DNC “set their own rules” to get a candidate to his desk, through whatever means Harrison vaguely described.
“The DNC, any time before Sept. 1, could decide to go with a different candidate — assuming they could get around bylaw and delegate restrictions,” LaRose wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “After Sept. 1, unless there were some sort of court ruling, they wouldn’t be able to change who they certify to the ballot.”
Harris is the only candidate with access to Biden’s campaign funds, under federal campaign finance rules. But even with an instant advantage like that, Democrats will be going into their August event as an open convention as of Monday. In this scenario, party delegates could cast votes for any candidate, and the one with a simple majority becomes the new Democratic nominee.
As of Monday, however, no other candidates have stepped forward to challenge Harris.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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