Sen. Kelly, delegates, ballot deadlines: 4 Arizona election questions answered now that Biden has dropped out

President Joe Biden’s announcement July 21 of his decision to drop out of the U.S. presidential race has prompted a flurry of concerns and questions in Arizona, including how the Democratic National Convention will work, who will become the party’s nominee, and who will be that nominee’s choice for vice president.

Vice President Kamala Harris, already endorsed by Biden and a number of political heavyweights , is the clear frontrunner to run against Donald Trump in November. But can the delegates from Arizona and other states legally vote for a candidate other than Biden? Who are Arizona’s delegates and how were they selected?

Among the list of possible vice presidential picks for a possible Harris ticket is current Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. Why is Kelly on that list, and if he were to leave his Senate seat to become vice president, how would his seat be filled?

Arizona Luminaria lays out some answers and offers basic information on what’s next in the presidential election and how it may affect Arizonans.

Democratic party members in Arizona voted for Joe Biden in the presidential preference election. Does that impact who Arizona voters will see on the ballot in November?

The presidential preference election does not necessarily determine who voters will see on the ballot. It’s basically instructing delegates about how they should represent Arizonans at their national convention.

When the majority of Arizona Democrats who voted in the party-specific primary in March cast their ballots for Joe Biden, that told Democratic party delegates to vote in favor of Joe Biden as the party nominee for president at the national convention.

Now that Biden has withdrawn from the race, Arizona delegates can vote for another candidate of their choice at the national convention, a spokesperson for Arizona’s Secretary of State told Arizona Luminaria via email.

There were seven Democrats on the March ballot in Arizona, including Joe Biden. A total of 420,174 Arizona voters registered as Democrats cast a ballot. Joe Biden won the most votes in that election, with 89.27% of the vote cast by 375,110 people. Each of the other candidates received less than 4% of votes.

After the presidential primary election, state parties hold local conventions to decide their delegates.

Those delegates would normally be required to represent their state’s party members’ choice for presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention. That candidate would then be considered among the nominees selected by other states’ voters.

In a case where a candidate withdraws from the race, delegates can now vote for another candidate of their choice at the national convention, according to Arizona’s secretary of state.

In other words, delegates are not locked in to voting for President Biden, and Biden does not have to release them to vote for Harris or any other potential nominee, according to Elaine Karmack , founding director at the Brookings Institution Center for Effective Public Management.

Karmack told Reuters last month that “delegates can vote with their conscience, which means they could throw their vote to someone else.”

Meanwhile, election officials must prepare ballots for the upcoming elections, which means printing the names of specific candidates.

A spokesperson for the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office said the official deadline for the Republican or Democratic national committees to file a presidential candidate with the Arizona secretary of state is Aug. 25, but official ballot printing timelines are set by local counties. The agency told Votebeat the state office would permit a new presidential candidate until Aug. 30.

When is the 2024 Democratic National Convention and who are Arizona’s delegates?

The 2024 Democratic National Convention will take place in Chicago Aug. 19-22.

The convention is made up of delegates from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Washington, D.C.

State parties manage the delegate selection process in each state and territory.

A list of the 85 delegates and six alternates to be sent from Arizona is available here . Delegates include politicians and regular citizens including Pima County Attorney Laura Conover, Bisbee Mayor Ken Budge, Arizona State University student and youth activist Isabel Hiserodt , candidate for the Glendale City Council Lupe Conchas , retired non-profit executive Darrell Parrish Bakeman and April Ignacio , a Tohono O’odham activist fighting for justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Arizona.

Other delegates include Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is married to Sen. Kelly.

According to an ongoing survey of delegates by the Associated Press , 12 Arizona delegates say they will vote for Harris and four say they are undecided, as of 2 p.m. on Monday, July 22. The rest of Arizona’s delegates had not yet responded to the AP survey.

The number of delegates each state sends to the convention is based on the number of votes a presidential candidate receives during the presidential primary, which took place in Arizona on March 19. Delegates were selected by congressional district-level caucus on April 20. There are also “automatic delegates,” including all U.S. representatives who are part of the Democratic Party, the Democratic governor and members of the Democratic National Committee who live in Arizona.

Tell me more about Mark Kelly and why he is listed as a possible vice president pick for Kamala Harris.

Kelly is one of Arizona’s two U.S. senators. The second seat is up for grabs in November after current Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, decided not to run for another term.

Kelly — a Democrat, former astronaut and anti-gun violence advocate — won the seat after his wife, former Rep. Giffords, was critically wounded in the Jan. 8, 2011 mass shooting in Tucson. Kelly and Giffords live in Tucson.

Kelly won his 2022 election by roughly 126,000 votes over Republican Blake Masters. He beat Republican Martha McSally in a special election in 2020.

His name is coming up on various media lists as a possible pick as Harris’ vice president if she is chosen as the Democratic nominee to replace Biden in August. He would represent Arizona on the ticket — an important swing state in the general election — and would add his high-profile military experience as a Navy pilot and astronaut.

On the issues:

Immigration: Kelly calls the immigration system broken and says he supports protecting Dreamers, creating a pathway to citizenship, improving border security and modernizing the legal immigration system. He supported the bipartisan immigration bill that fell apart earlier in 2024 and would have severely limited access to asylum. At the same time, Kelly joined with Sinema to convince congress to release the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to fund support for asylum-seekers passing through Southern Arizona this spring.

Israel and Gaza: In public statements, Kelly has said he supports Israel’s right to defend itself following the Oct. 7 attack. He has also joined other Democratic senators in calling for a ceasefire as part of the efforts to release Israeli hostages.

Minimum wage: Kelly supported a proposal for a $15 minimum wage , which was debated as part of a 2021 COVID-19 relief package.

Arizona funding: This year, Arizona Sens. Kelly and Sinema helped steer billions in federal earmarks to address local wildfire prevention, study drought relief methods and invest in clean-energy school buses across the state.

Read more: Go deeper on Arizona’s Senate seats and voters with this story .

What’s the process for replacing Mark Kelly if he becomes the Democrats’ pick for vice president? Does he have to resign to run?

Kelly is allowed to maintain his seat as a U.S. senator during a run for vice president. While Arizona is one of the few states with a resign-to-run-law , which places limitations on state elected officials from running while serving in office, Arizona Legislative Council Executive Director Steven Primack told Arizona Luminaria that Kelly holds a federal office and isn’t subject to these statutes .

In 2008, Arizona Sen. John McCain ran for president against Barack Obama while maintaining his senatorial position. McCain continued to serve as senator until his death in 2018.

Upon Kelly’s election or resignation, Gov. Katie Hobbs would appoint a replacement of the same political party, a Democrat, until the election of Kelly’s replacement in the next general election, according to Arizona statute .

“C. For a vacancy in the office of United States senator, the governor shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy. That appointee shall be of the same political party as the person vacating the office and, except as provided in subsection D of this section, shall serve until the person elected at the next general election is qualified and assumes office. If the person vacating the office changed political party affiliation after taking office, the person who is appointed to fill the vacancy shall be of the same political party that the vacating officeholder was when the vacating officeholder was elected or appointed to that office.

“D. If a vacancy in the office of United States senator occurs more than one hundred fifty days before the next regular primary election date, the person who is appointed pursuant to subsection C of this section shall continue to serve until the vacancy is filled at the next general election.  If a vacancy in the office of United States senator occurs one hundred fifty days or less before the next regular primary election date, the person who is appointed shall serve until the vacancy is filled at the second regular general election held after the vacancy occurs, and the person elected shall fill the remaining unexpired term of the vacated office.”

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