(The Center Square) – The Democratic Party of Texas praised President Joe Biden after he announced on Sunday he was no longer running for reelection. The statement stops short of endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee.
Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said the president’s announcement “affirms the Democratic Party’s commitment to the fundamental American idea that no one man nor any one party comes before the interests of our nation and the people of the United States.”
He also said it “does not discredit the momentous contributions that President Joe Biden delivered over the last four years and through decades of service. The path forward is clear: Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike must unite, mobilize and vote to once again reject Donald Trump, whose extreme defining principles are in opposition to the values of the middle class.”
Chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, Trey Martinez Fischer, said the president's announcement represented “a monumental day in the history of our country, in the history of our party. President Biden has been a generational leader, transformational president … We must rally behind whomever our Democratic nominee will be. Our mission is clear: to secure a future where our children can thrive, where the rights of women are protected, where LGBTQI+ individuals can live freely and openly, and wherever Americans can pursue their dreams without fear of discrimination.”
Both statements stop short of endorsing Harris as the Democratic nominee, whom Biden endorsed.
Democrats will hold an open convention in August to elect their nominee. Many presume it will be Harris because over 14 million Democrats voted for her and Biden in the primary.
While some Texas delegates have endorsed her, others haven’t. Texas has 273 delegates, the third largest behind California and New York.
“The Democratic Party's 2024 Delegate Selection Rules do not provide specific guidance for how delegates should vote if their candidate withdraws,” according to a Ballotpedia analysis of the nomination process. It also notes that 14 states have laws that require presidential convention delegates “to vote according to how they were allocated after the state's primary;” 12 states allow delegates “to be released when a candidate withdraws or after a specific number of rounds of voting at the national convention,” The Center Square reported .
According to Texas Election Code, if a presidential nominee withdraws by at least 74 days before Election Day, August 23, the Texas secretary of state can certify the replacement in time to be on the ballot. It also requires the Texas Democratic Party chair to submit the replacement nominee by the 71st day before Election Day, or August 26.
The Democratic National Convention is being held in Chicago between August 19-22.
Texas’ Democratic delegates are divided into four categories.
There are 159 “district level” delegates who were elected in congressional districts at the Texas Democratic Convention held in El Paso last month. They represent Democratic voters in their district. Their total was determined by the number of Democrats who voted in the 2020 presidential election allocated by how many voted in a district.
There are 53 “at large” delegates who represent voters statewide and were selected at the TDC last month. Another 32 delegates are comprised of party leaders and elected officials, like mayors, state lawmakers among others, and 29 are “super delegates” who are members of the Democratic National Committee and Texas’ Democratic congressional delegation.
Some “super delegates” have already endorsed Harris: U.S. Reps. Veronica Escobar (El Paso), Jasmine Crockett (Dallas) and Joaquin Castro (San Antonio).
Crockett was among nine House Democrats who cosponsored a bill to remove former President Donald Trump’s Secret Service detail. She and other Texas Democrats referred to Trump’s assassination attempt as “ political violence .”
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin was the first Democrat in Congress to call for Biden to step aside. He has not endorsed Harris, instead saying delegates “should be open to all talented individuals who wish to be considered.”
While many in the media reported he was the first elected Democrat to call for Biden to suspend his campaign, he was the second, and the second in Texas to do so.
The first elected Democrat who appears to have called for Biden to step down was Ron Reynolds, a Houston Democrat and DNC delegate. He published a statement on Instagram on June 28, after the first, and now only presidential debate, after on national television Biden couldn’t complete sentences and appeared to be disoriented.
“I'm a Biden DNC National Delegate that is going to the DNC in Chicago and I FIRMLY believe WE need to REPLACE Biden at the Convention or Earlier and nominate Vice President Kamala Harris,” Reynolds said. “I want to defeat Trump and MAGA! #ReplaceBiden #EnoughIsEnough.”
Reynolds was also the first Texas Democrat and delegate to call for replacing Biden with Harris.
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