House Democrats have maintained that anyone is free to run in the 2024 presidential primary, but have suggested that challenging Vice President Kamala Harris would be a futile effort.
“Convention delegates can vote for anyone they want once they’re released, which means anyone who wants can and should run. VP Harris has run. So far, the only person who has speculated that Harris might run is Senator Manchin, a former Democrat and now an independent, but he has since retracted that idea, so no candidate has been set,” Senator Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, told Fox News Digital.
Asked if having another Democrat enter the race just weeks before the nominating convention would hurt the party’s momentum, Kildee said, “No, I don’t think so. I think there’s a good chance she’ll be the nominee on the first ballot, and there are good reasons for that.”
Former House Majority Leader Stinny Hoyer (D-Md.) was more blunt in his assessment of the situation.
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Many House Democrats are supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House, with many, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, saying it’s an open process. (Getty Images)
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I thought Kamala Harris was running,” Trump said in response to a reporter asking if he was concerned that there was no primary. “I thought Kamala Harris was running to be the president if he couldn’t serve. She was running. It was Biden-Harris.”
Harris confirmed she would seek the presidency on Sunday after President Biden made the shock announcement that he was dropping out of the race. Biden has endorsed her along with many other Democratic leaders, including former President Clinton and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Asked if she supported an open process, Pelosi said, “Anyone can run. Anyone can run.”
More than 150 House Democrats have endorsed her as of Monday, according to multiple counts.
But Republicans have accused Democrats of staging a coup in their rush to endorse Harris to replace the 81-year-old candidate who was trailing former President Trump in the polls.
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President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he will not seek reelection. (Hannah Beyer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But several House Democrats who spoke to Fox News Digital said that while anyone is free to enter the race, they denied that a challenger would hurt Harris and the Democratic Party’s momentum.
“You see Democrats rallying behind VP Harris. I support VP Harris. At the end of the day, to have a primary, you need a challenger. Nobody is challenging VP Harris,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said. “So it’s an open process right now, right? People who could potentially run are coming out and endorsing VP Harris. That’s what it’s an open process.”
Asked if he would advise potential challengers not to run, he said: “I’m not going to block anything, but high-ranking officials like governors and senators are not going to run. They also support VP Harris because they believe she is the best person for the presidency. So it’s hard to say, ‘We want to move forward’ when there isn’t even a challenger right now.”
The top Democrats on the Education and Homeland Security committees, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), both argued for an open primary but agreed that Harris is likely to become the nominee after the Democratic National Convention in August.
“It’s open, nobody’s running, and frankly I don’t think it makes much sense. We have a delegation that’s already been endorsed by about 150 members of the Democratic caucus, a delegation that’s a Biden-Harris delegation. Where are they going to go?” Scott said.
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has raised nearly $50 million since endorsing Biden
Bennie Thompson, a Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, has also endorsed Harris. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Thompson said his victory would “cement his strength” within the Democratic Party, even if a challenger emerges.
“If it was an open primary, I don’t know who could run against her,” Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said, noting that a significant number of Democrats had endorsed her just 24 hours after she took over from Biden.
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Harris does have the support of a broad cross-section of House Democrats, including the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, but some lawmakers who have been critical of the Biden administration, such as Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Grusenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), have remained conspicuously silent.
Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race after facing growing pressure from Democrats who worried he was mentally and physically unfit to campaign again and after they said the debates were a distraction from a broader anti-Trump movement on the left.
