Democrats think they pulled the perfect bait-and-switch on the American people. First, leave a floundering presidential candidate on the public stage until his mental decline can no longer be ignored. Next, replace him with a hand-picked candidate after it’s too late for any other challenger to regroup and challenge her.
But for Kamala Harris, the path forward is not as straightforward as Democrats would have Americans believe.
In fact, in some states, replacing President Joe Biden is illegal.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Sunday that if the Democratic Party decides to replace President Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris, there will be a legal fight in court. Some of the affected states include Georgia, Nevada, and Wisconsin.
At the heart of the legal challenge are specific rules regarding when and how a presidential candidate can withdraw. Thirty-one U.S. states let state or national party rules decide what happens if a candidate drops out. However, others, including three of six swing states, have specific rules over how and when a candidate can drop out of the race.
The rules are different in many states. Some states let candidates withdraw up to 74 days before the election. If they miss this deadline, their name will still be on the ballot.
In Wisconsin, a candidate can only drop out if they die.
The Heritage Foundation will lead the courtroom battles against crowning Harris as the new Democratic nominee. Mike Howell, the executive director of the foundation’s Oversight Project, said millions of dollars are already committed to the anticipated legal challenges. “What would make a state the most difficult for replacement depends on timing and how they do it,” he told Newsweek.
Harris also faces legal challenges over her “inheritance” of Biden’s campaign donations.
Harris’ selection as the new Democratic nominee allows them to keep all donations made to the Biden campaign. After Biden announced he was stepping down, his campaign quickly changed its name to “Harris for President,” according to official documents. This means Biden’s campaign will now support Harris and her run for president, and she will manage the funds. By the end of June, there was $95 million in the campaign’s account.
Biden’s support for Harris made transferring money to her campaign easier, especially after some confusion among Democrats. Since the money was raised for both Biden and Harris, it can be used for Harris’s presidential bid. Other Democratic candidates can’t use this money, but it could be given to the Democratic National Committee.
There hasn’t been a situation like Biden dropping out since modern campaign finance laws were created in the 1970s. According to federal law, if a presidential candidate’s campaign account is set up, it can also be used by the candidate for vice president from the same party. This allowed Kamala Harris to take over the campaign account.
Sean Cooksey, the chair of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), questions whether it’s okay for Harris to use Joe Biden’s campaign money. In an interview, Cooksey said this situation is new and complicated. He compared Biden’s fund’s transfer to Harris to “giving his entire committee, the cash, and all the assets, over to another person.” Cooksey thinks the FEC will need to review this change carefully. He also mentioned that there might be legal challenges in federal court, as filing a complaint with the FEC can be slow.
Some experts, however, don’t think challengers can directly go to federal court without first filing a complaint with the FEC. If the FEC doesn’t act on a complaint within 120 days, it could be challenged in court, but even if a complaint were filed now, the deadline would still be after Election Day.
Since Kamala Harris’s campaign started, she has received some small donations, but big Democratic donors are still unsure about supporting her. Some, like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, have quickly backed Harris. Others, including Netflix co-founder Reid Hastings, think Democrats should take more time to choose a candidate and maybe pick someone more moderate.
But that was never the intention of the coup. The fix, predicted by conservatives since Biden first announced he was running again, is in. It’s one of the most bizarre coups in U.S. political history, and if the courts can’t stop it, voters will.
