VP Kamala Harris’ historic candidacy leaves many questions about the nomination process at Democratic convention

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — “Really, I don’t think we have anything but questions,” Kern history teacher James Maddox said Monday afternoon, a day since Biden announced he’s suspending his 2024 reelection bid.

But the news didn’t stop at that bombshell revelation.

Questions keep coming, as are continued critiques over each party’s candidate of choice.

“[Kamala Harris] convicted child predators, [Trump] seems to be one,” said Flor Olvera, president of the Democratic Women of Kern.

Tim Collins, chair of the Kern County Young Republicans, countered, “[Harris is] really unliked among I think the general public from what I see in the polling but especially among Republicans.”

Despite influential Democrats nationwide rallying behind Harris as their new presumptive presidential nominee, the nomination is technically up for grabs by any challenger. But Maddox noted it’s unlikely Harris would face threatening enough opposition.

“That’s malpractice,” Maddox said of any Democratic infighting. “If you’re with this party, you can’t just bust it up to see what happens.”

Maddox also pointed out the 1968 Democratic National Convention was the last time a “black eye” like this happened for the Democrats.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey became the nominee at the convention, without winning any primary elections.

Presumptive nominee President Lyndon B. Johnson — like Biden now — had dropped out.

“But [Johnson] got out in March, and that’s an eternity in election time,” said Maddox, drawing the contrast between the two scenarios. “This is so short a timetable, it’s really absolutely unprecedented.”

He added, “Right now, it doesn’t seem like the Democrats have the most structured kind of process laid out.”

Jesse Aguilar is a Kern County delegate for the 22nd Congressional District.

Aguilar said despite the last-minute change, he’s behind Harris. Biden’s near 3,800 delegates are not required to automatically support Harris.

“Harris is absolutely the right person,” Aguilar said in a Zoom interview with 17 News. “She’s from California, so we know her really, really well here in the state. It’s an opportunity to turn the page, remove a lot of the doubts.

At the end of the day, Biden was not yet the official party nominee.

But some Republican lawmakers, including Kern’s own Congressman Vince Fong, are challenging the switch, saying it’s undemocratic and ignores primary votes.

But Maddox noted a vote for Biden is already a vote for Harris.

“For people who voted for Joe Biden in the primary, they were under the assumption that should something happen to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris [would take over]. They voted like that in 2020 and in the 2024 primary.”

And how many rounds of voting it takes for Harris to become the official nominee will reveal the unity or division in the party.

“We’re going to watch this thing evolve in real time,” Maddox said of the future.

But one beacon of light the teacher noted was that younger voters especially should be more engaged in their civic duty with this type of political drama.

And with what he called a “generational passing of the torch,” younger candidates — Harris for the Democrats and VP-Pick Senator JD Vance for the Republicans — young voters may no longer feel, “It’s a bunch of old people trying to do what’s best for the country,” Maddox said.

Maddox emphasized 2024 is “really not a normal election” and should voters not pay attention, there’s the “potential to do some harm.”

“Like it or not, no matter what you want to say about Donald Trump, he has turned out the vote in all sorts of ways,” he added.

The Democratic National Convention will be from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22 in Chicago.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.