Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party's nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press survey taken in the aftermath of President Joe Biden's decision to drop his bid for reelection.
Harris was endorsed by Biden minutes after he announced he would not accept the Democratic nomination.
She then worked to quickly lock up the support of her party's donors, elected officials and other leaders, and has so far received support from at least 2,214.
Get more New Hampshire news in your inbox: Sign up for the free Rundown newsletter.
However, the AP is not calling Harris the new presumptive nominee. That's because the convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention in August or if Democrats hold a virtual roll call ahead of that gathering in Chicago.
The convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
Top New Hampshire Democrats line up behind Harris
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Concerns about Biden's age and electability had been growing within the Democratic Party for some time. But calls for Biden to bow out of the race intensified after his poor performance in a June 27 debate against Trump. Biden gave meandering answers and appeared to lose his train of thought during the debate, stoking concerns about his ability to win and serve another four-year term.
Top Democratic officials met privately with Biden and urged him to reconsider his candidacy. But Biden had repeatedly insisted he would remain in the race — almost right up until the moment he decided to drop out. He announced the decision with a statement posted on social media.
BIDEN'S OUT, NOW WHAT?
Biden had won enough states' primaries and caucuses to secure support of a majority of the pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention. But those delegates had not yet officially cast their votes when Biden bowed out of the race.
Biden's departure frees his delegates to vote for whomever they choose.
There are nearly 4,700 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, with varying amounts from each state. That includes nearly 4,000 pledged delegates and about 700 superdelegates, such as current and former elected officials. The delegate selection rules can be found here.
To receive the Democratic presidential nomination, it takes a majority of votes from pledged delegates on the first ballot. If a second round of voting is needed to reach a majority, superdelegates also can vote. Voting procedures for the 2024 Democratic National Convention can be found here.
The Democratic National Committee previously planned to hold a virtual roll call to choose its presidential nominee ahead of the convention, to meet Ohio ballot eligibility rules. A committee setting the party's convention rules is meeting to discuss the next steps.
FIND YOUR STATE: WHAT ARE DELEGATES SAYING?
Since Biden's withdrawal from the race, the AP has been surveying Democratic convention delegates about who they plan to support for president. Updated results from that survey can be found in this spreadsheet. You can also view results with a graphic on apnews.com.
The National Democratic Committee has not publicly posted a list of all the convention delegates. However, the Association of State Democratic Committees maintains links to the websites of each state Democratic Party. State party official may be able to share the names of convention delegates from your state.
Democratic officials in some states, including Maine and New Hampshire, have said their entire convention delegation will be supporting Harris for president. Those states include:
