This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Elected Virginia Democrats and delegates to the party’s upcoming convention are endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as a nominee to replace President Joe Biden on the party’s ticket.
However, the process of how Virginia’s convention delegates will and can vote is not clear.
Sunday, Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris. He had been facing pressure from Democrats to leave the race after he appeared to not be thinking clearly during a debate with former President Donald Trump last month. Virginia Democrats did not openly call for him to leave, but did leave open the possibility for his exit.
“It takes real leadership to look in that mirror when you're the most powerful man in the world, and say, I may not be the best person to defeat Donald Trump at this time,” said Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, who represents Portsmouth, in an interview Sunday. “Now that he has endorsed [Vice President] Kamala Harris to replace him, we will all get behind her and be just as loyal and work just as hard for her as we did for President Biden.”
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the front-runner to be the Democrat’s nominee for governor in 2025, also endorsed Harris.
“Not only will she defeat former President Trump, but she will set an example for our children,” Spanberger said in a statement on Harris. “She will demonstrate how to be a strong, principled leader who is focused on the needs of the American people — not herself.
US Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both endorsed Harris, who previously served alongside them in the Senate, in statements released Sunday.
“While there has to be an orderly process and the decision ultimately rests in the hands of the DNC delegates, I believe Vice President Harris has the experience, energy, and resolve to lead our nation,” said Warner.
Virginia has 119 delegates and eight alternates, according to a party document posted on the Democratic Party of Virginia’s website. A slate of delegates endorsed by the Biden-Harris campaign were chosen at the state convention in June.
Nominating delegates are not bound by law to vote for a specific candidate. However, they do take a pledge to do so according to Caitlin Jewitt, a professor of political science at Virginia Tech and an expert in presidential primaries.
“Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them,” according to the DNC’s delegate selection rules.
Jewitt said that made Biden’s endorsement of Harris “particularly important” if another candidate were to emerge.
One Virginia delegate told VPM News there was not a clear process from the state party on the process moving forward.
“We’re all in group texts together and nobody knows anything,” the delegate said. “It's mostly because this happened an hour ago.”
That delegate had also said they would support Harris at the national convention in Chicago next month.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, also a delegate, said that he had not received instructions about what the withdrawal means for the nomination process as of 5 p.m. Sunday.
Party delegates met virtually last week in light of questions surrounding Biden’s presumptive nomination and continued calls for him to leave.
A Sunday statement from the DPVA did not clarify the process moving forward either. VPM News has requested an interview with DPVA Chair Susan Swecker and did not hear back immediately. In a statement, Swecker said she was endorsing Harris.
Earlier this month, the DPVA declined to make a list of delegates available to VPM News.
Virginia Republicans said there was no difference between Biden and Harris.
“Make no mistake, whether it’s border czar Kamala Harris or someone else, it’s the Biden/Harris Adminstration’s weak leadership and resulting chaos around the world and here at home that is on the ballot this November,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin posted Sunday.
House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R–Shenandoah) expressed similar sentiments.
“No matter who emerges from this mess of their own making, Democrats will continue to make life harder, less prosperous, and more dangerous for all Americans,” he said in an emailed statement.
Just last week, the Republican National Convention solidified the candidacy of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Youngkin presented one of the event’s keynote speeches.
