Democratic nomination betting odds move towards Harris after Biden gets COVID
Editor's note: Click here for the latest presidential odds after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Humorist Will Rogers' description of the Democratic party — "I belong to no organized party; I am a Democrat," — appears to be coming to fruition in the wake of President Joe Biden's COVID diagnosis Wednesday and it's affecting betting markets.
The diagnosis has sent the Democratic party beyond its cliche disarray as some representatives have publicly called for the President to step away from the ticket and party leaders have reportedly pushed in private for Biden to drop out.
Biden-Harris Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks attempted to quell rumors of Biden leaving the race Thursday saying Biden, "is and will be the Democratic nominee."
The betting market, which bookmakers can't legally take action on in the U.S., appears not to believe the campaign as the money has moved towards Vice President Kamala Harris leading the ticket after the Democratic National Convention in August.
"Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Joe Biden after testing positive for COVID-19, and as a result, there’s been a fair bit of movement in the markets in favour of fellow Democrat Kamala Harris," William Kedjanyi, Political Betting Analyst at UK bookmaker Star Sports, said in a press release.
The betting house said that Harris' odds of leading the party shortened from +450 to +110 after the President's second COVID diagnosis was announced.
Harris also moved past Biden in the general election odds, sitting in second place at +450 with Star Sports. Biden's odds in the general have lengthened to +700.
Here are the odds for the Democratic Party nomination as of July 18.
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2024 Democratic Presidential nomination odds
Star Sports
Kamala Harris: +110
Joe Biden: +125
Michelle Obama: +1400
Gavin Newsom: +1600
Gretchen Whitmer: +2800
Bovada
Kamala Harris: -190
Joe Biden: +260
Michelle Obama: +1200
Gavin Newsom: +2000
Gretchen Whitmer: +2500
BetOnline
Kamala Harris: -240
Joe Biden: +240
Michelle Obama: +1600
Gavin Newsom: +2000
Gretchen Whitmer: +2000
Oddschecker
Kamala Harris: -154
Joe Biden: +340
Michelle Obama: +1800
Gavin Newsom: +2700
Gretchen Whitmer: +2900
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Contributing: Brianne Pfannentiel
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kamala Harris tops Democratic Presidential odds after Biden COVID case
