Questions and answers What could happen after Joe Biden's resignation

Joe Biden has withdrawn from the race for the presidency. Turbulent weeks lie ahead for his party and the country.

The pressure on US President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race for the presidency has grown ever greater in recent days. Now he has drawn the consequences. Concerns about his age and doubts about his mental fitness were immense, even among his closest confidants. The most important questions and answers that now arise after his departure:

What happens after he leaves?

Biden has already won his parties' internal primaries and secured the necessary delegate votes for the nomination convention, which will take place from August 19 to 22 in Chicago, Illinois. The 81-year-old was actually supposed to be officially chosen as the presidential candidate there. As Biden is now actually dropping out shortly beforehand, the delegates in Chicago would no longer be bound by the outcome of the primary in their state, but would be free to make their own decision.

This means that, in theory, the race would be open to all sorts of high-caliber candidates from the party who could throw themselves into a lightning election campaign. However, the Democrats are unlikely to have much interest in launching an open competition between several replacement candidates so close to the election and making the party conference the venue for a voting drama, accompanied by heavy candidate lobbying. It is more likely that they would try to rally the party behind a new leader in advance.

Who could that be?

Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris, is seen as the natural successor to Biden. Immediately after his retirement announced at X, Biden said he was putting Harris forward as his presidential nominee for the November election. The party delegates are by no means bound by this proposal either. But it will steer the process in one direction, at least for now - with Kamala Harris in pole position.

The 59-year-old has long been seen as pale in office and has struggled with poor poll ratings. However, in view of Biden's impasse, she has recently gained popularity, mainly for pragmatic reasons.

What would speak for Harris?

Harris is the first woman and the first black woman to take the oath as US Vice President. Her father once immigrated from Jamaica to study economics. Her mother, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist, came from India. The Democrats would need good reasons to simply ignore Harris. In addition, she is nationally known due to her role, she has already passed all the checks for the White House and she could probably access the campaign apparatus and presumably also donations collected by Biden, because she is already part of his re-election campaign as Vice President. However, if Harris were to move up, she would also need a running mate at her side until the party convention.

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Are there any alternatives?

Alongside Harris, the names Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer have been mentioned most frequently of late. Newsom (56) is governor of the powerful state of California. He has made a name for himself nationally and has worked intensively on his political profile, most recently with high-profile trips abroad. Whitmer (52) is the governor of Michigan and has long been regarded as an up-and-coming force in the party. Before the 2020 election, Biden had considered her as his running mate. According to US media, both are said to have made it clear internally that they are not available for the second tier as possible running mates for Harris.

Accelerated procedure?

The leadership of the Democratic Party had recently initiated a process to make Biden the presidential candidate in a virtual vote shortly before the party conference in Chicago. It remains to be seen whether the accelerated process will continue after Biden's withdrawal. However, this would leave even less time to position a Biden replacement in the public eye.

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