Democrats Will Nominate Kamala Harris, Running Mate by Aug. 7

(Bloomberg) -- Delegates to the Democratic National Convention will meet virtually within the next two weeks to confirm Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee for president — and her yet-to-be-named running mate.

The convention’s rules committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the process for a virtual roll call, clearing the final hurdle to solidifying the ticket before the convention convenes in Chicago Aug. 19. The exact date of the vote — some time between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7 — will be decided by the convention’s co-chairs, Jaime Harrison and Minyon Moore.

That gives Harris a tight window to vet and select her running mate, now that her elevation to the top of the ticket has left the No. 2 slot vacant. President Joe Biden, 81, said Sunday he would no longer seek the nomination amid concerns about his ability to beat Republican Donald Trump, and his endorsement of Harris allowed her to effectively clinch the nomination within 48 hours.

Among the names she’s thought to be considering are a number of Democratic governors: Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota, in addition to Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is working to vet possible running mates, according to a person familiar with the process.

Democratic officials say they’re moving up the process to accommodate early ballot deadlines in several states, especially Ohio, where the deadline had been Aug. 7. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a bill in May to move the deadline to Sept. 1, but Democrats say they’ll act as if the earlier deadline is in effect to avoid any possibility of a legal challenge to having Harris and her running mate appear on the ticket.   

Ohio requires major parties to name both a presidential and vice presidential candidate for the ballot, effectively making Aug. 7 the party’s deadline for Harris to select a running mate as well.

The rules ratified Wednesday set a deadline of 6 p.m. New York time Saturday for presidential candidates to declare they’re running, and they will need to collect at least 300 signatures to place their names into nomination by July 30. 

If there’s only one candidate, the roll call will take place on or about Aug. 1, said committee chairwoman Leah Daughtry. If there’s more than one candidate, it could be about Aug. 3, she said.

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