These Obscure Democrats Could Soon Become Kingmakers

They are lawyers and school board members, labor activists and faith leaders, lifelong Democrats and party newcomers. Some of them just turned 18; others are pushing 80.

These are the people who make up the 3,939 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Some are elected, and some are selected — each state party has its own rules — for what is normally a ceremonial task: nominating their candidate for president.

But in the — still unlikely — scenario in which President Joe Biden steps down as the nominee, they will suddenly be charged with picking a new nominee at the convention next month in Chicago.

Most of these delegates did not set out to become kingmakers in the Democratic Party, but rather to be part of a pro-Biden slate pledging support to the president. But in the event Biden drops out, they would be vaulted from obscurity to a group with the fate of the party — and, in the view of many Democrats, the future of the country — on their shoulders.

Many are loath to even consider that as an option, remaining loyal to the president as he affirms his commitment to remaining in the race.

Ronald Martin, a social studies teacher and member of the National Education Association, a teachers union, said he was wholeheartedly behind the president, dismissing Biden’s debate performance as simply a “bad night.” But forced to make a decision in the event Biden withdraws, Martin said he would assess the field rather than immediately vote for an alternative, adding that defeating former President Donald Trump remained the goal.

In a speech in Wisconsin on Friday and in an ABC News interview that aired later in the day, Biden made it clear he had no intention of withdrawing. “I’m staying in this race,” Biden told the Wisconsin crowd, to cheers. “I’m not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out 3 1/2 years of work.”

Almost all of the delegates — roughly 99% — are pledged to Biden, reflecting the popular vote in their state primaries. They are not free to support another candidate of their choosing, unless Biden withdraws. While there is a so-called conscience clause in the rules, permitting delegates to break with their delegations, it is rarely, if ever, exercised.

“This is not 2016, and it’s not 2008, when you had a split delegation,” said Donna Brazile, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee. “This is a Biden convention.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .