You ask, we answer: Biden dropped out, now what?

President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on Sunday. He said he is putting his full support behind Vice President Kamala Harris for the next nominee.

We asked MPR News readers what questions they have now that Biden has dropped out. Below are the most frequently asked questions we received. This is an ongoing list and will be updated as more information becomes available.

What happens at the Democratic national convention now? Will there be different options for candidates?

In a typical convention, delegates are already pledged to candidates when they arrive at the convention. A party favorite heads into the convention and is confirmed to become the nominee by the majority of delegates.

Delegates are individuals chosen to represent their state or community at their party’s nominating convention. Primary votes determine how many delegates each candidate gets at the convention.

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During the primaries, Biden won the vast majority of the 4,000 delegates. Biden’s delegates were pledged but not necessarily required to vote for Biden at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Some top Democrats say an open convention is needed. An open convention occurs if party delegates fail to rally around a single candidate during the first round of voting and no candidate receives a majority of the delegates’ votes.

Once a convention is considered an “open convention,” delegates who had been pledged to a candidate are released to vote for any candidate. Candidates then try to woo delegates to gain enough support during subsequent rounds of voting. It has been many decades since a convention like that occurred.

Even though Biden endorsed Harris, his nearly 3,900 delegates do not automatically transfer to her. All of Biden’s delegates are now essentially free agents and will be able to choose a candidate on their own without voter input. Minnesota is sending 93 delegates to the convention. A majority of them want Harris to be at the top of the ticket.

As of now, Harris is the only candidate in the race and has the endorsement of Biden and other influential Democrats. But that’s not to say someone won’t step up and challenge her.

Has a president ever stepped down at this stage?

Nationally, the last president to drop out in a campaign year was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. Johnson had served under President John F. Kennedy following the 1960 election, and then became president after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. He then went on to win the 1964 election.

Seven months before the election he announced that he would not be seeking reelection. Before dropping out his poll numbers hit at 36 percent approval rate — many say this is because his support of the Vietnam War.

His Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, a former Minnesota senator, replaced him on the ticket, but Republican challenger Richard Nixon won the election.

Who could wind up as a running mate?

Harris has not said who she would choose as her running mate. It is likely that she would make a choice by the Democratic national convention. The DNC is Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.

Vice presidential picks are sometimes made to shore up potential weaknesses the party’s nominee is perceived to have or to curry favor with an important state or region. Several governors and senators could get considered or the new presidential candidate could look outside of government.

What do delegates who were ‘uncommitted’ do now?

During the primaries in Minnesota (and a few other states around the country), many Democratic voters selected “uncommitted” as a way to protest Biden’s stance on Israel war in Gaza. Nineteen percent of Democrats who voted in Minnesota’s primary voted “uncommitted.” The movement won 11 delegates to send to the DNC.

Asma Mohammed is one of the uncommitted delegates headed to the convention in August. She said she didn’t gravitate toward Harris out of the gate.

“I think right now, what we’re asking for is an open convention so that people can share their ideas for what’s happening in Gaza specifically,” she said.

Is Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips still running?

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination on March 6. He has spoken favorably about Vice President Harris but said he would still like to there to be a vetting process before the nominee is picked.

What if I voted for Biden in the primary? How do I express who I want for the nomination now?

The delegates who go to the Democratic national convention in Chicago serve as the representatives of the primary voters. Those delegates are a mix of elected officials and party activists. The DFL Party maintains a list of those going to the convention but there is no formal process for pushing them to vote in a particular way..

Minnesota DFL Party chair Ken Martin said Sunday that primary votes this year “weren’t just for Joe Biden, it was for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

If you have concerns you want to share to the party, the general email for the Minnesota DFL party is info@dfl.org and the phone number is 651-293-1200.

Is there still time for a change before Minnesota ballots are set?

Major parties have until Aug. 26 to submit their presidential ticket for inclusion on the ballot as well as the names of electors who would cast votes for their party ticket if they win the state’s popular vote.

Early voting for the general election begins on Sept. 20, one of the first states in the country to do so.

What happens to Biden’s campaign money?

Biden raised money on behalf the Biden-Harris ticket. There could be legal wrangling over where those dollars go, but some experts believe Harris could gain access to the money. The new nominee will still need to scramble to build their campaign account at a time when former President Trump and Republicans are pulling in a lot of money.

The Democratic National Committee has also been raising money and is using this late candidate swap to make a bid for financial help from donors who were reluctant to keep giving to Biden.

According to reports, Harris pulled in tens of millions of dollars within hours of her declaring herself a presidential candidate.