West Michigan DNC delegate weighs in on Biden exiting race

ASHLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — With President Joe Biden out of the race, a West Michigan Democratic delegate is giving his reaction to the decision.

Dallas Dean Jr., who lives in Newaygo County near Grant, will be heading to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention in just under a month.

A shake-up at the top of the Democratic Party ticket is not a concern for Dean.

“People voted for Biden but they knew it was a Biden-Harris ticket, so I think it was a reflection of the fact that people support her as well. I think she’s in a great position to be the candidate and will do a fine job,” Dean said.

Dean is also a member of the party’s senior caucus and says not running was a decision that the president had to make for himself.

“It’s his decision. It shouldn’t be forced on him by somebody else arbitrarily saying you’ve done a fine job but there’s pasture. No, he made the right decision, I think, because his health has been in decline. I don’t think his mental acuity has declined. I think it’s just the problem of getting up and running 18 hours a day as a candidate must,” Dean said.

With the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Dean is confident in the security and says the U.S. Secret Service will be providing protection for delegates to get to the convention.

“There’s gonna be far more security than any time in the past. Even when I went down a week ago to see President Biden in Detroit, they had it indoors and security had to be one of the main reasons and there was a lot of security there,” Dean said.

The delegates will have to make an official nomination at the convention and Dean says the Harris campaign is already reaching out asking for his support.

“I’m getting lots of emails along that line and that’s normal. The process for getting elected: on May 11, 77 delegates were elected by the congressional districts, and then on June 30, the balance of the slate was put together. We have 140 total delegates so the majority are elected in their congressional districts,” Dean said.

The big question remains who will be on the ticket as vice president? Dean is excited to be a part of the process.

“I’m very excited to go and see the convention firsthand. I’ve known a lot of people who have been there before,” Dean said.

Dean also says he does not expect a contentious convention to decide who will be on the Democratic ticket in November.

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