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Democratic National Convention, 2024

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2024 Presidential Election
Date: November 5, 2024
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The Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago, Illinois, from August 19-22, 2024.[1]

The national nominating convention is typically the formal ceremony during which the party selects its nominee and adopts a party platform. The delegates are individuals chosen to represent their state or territory at the convention. Delegates voted to certify a new party platform on August 19, 2024.[2]

In 2024, the Democratic National Committee certified Vice President Kamala Harris (D) as the party's nominee during a virtual roll call vote on August 2, 2024.[3][4][5][6][7] Click here to read more about the virtual roll call vote.

President Joe Biden (D) withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, 2024.[8] Biden became the presumptive nominee on March 12, 2024, after winning an estimated majority of delegates in the presidential primaries.

This page provides the following information:

Click the following links for more information about the Democratic presidential nomination process in 2020:

Convention schedule and meetings

This section contains the list of speakers for the convention program from August 19-22, 2024, at the Democratic National Convention.[9][10][11][12]

Monday, August 19: For the People

Speakers

  • Mayor Brandon Johnson (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Lt. Go.v Peggy Flanagan (Minnesota)
  • Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison
  • U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (California)
  • Derrick Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP
  • Melanie L. Campbell, president and chief executive officer of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
  • U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (Illinois)
  • U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (California)
  • Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya, founders of I Am ALS
  • U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois)
  • Dutch Martinez and Ryan Ahern, members of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada
  • U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (Ohio)
  • Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
  • April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
  • Brent Booker, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA)
  • Kenneth W. Cooper, international president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
  • Claude Cummings Jr., president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA)
  • Elizabeth H. Shuler, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
  • Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (California)
  • Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (California)
  • Lt. Gov. Austin A. Davis (Pennsylvania)
  • Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez (Wisconsin)
  • Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo (Texas)
  • State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (Michigan)
  • U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Florida)
  • U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler (California)
  • Linda Haskins
  • Jeremy Warmkessel, president of Local 302 IAFF Allentown Firefighters, Pennsylvania
  • Maria-Isabel Ballivian, executive director of the Annandale Christian Community for Action Childhood Development Center, Virginia
  • Deja Foxx, reproductive rights activist and content creator
  • Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo
  • Gov. Kathy Hochul (New York)
  • Rochelle Adjei-Abasa, regional organizing director for Delaware County, Pennsylvania
  • Steve Kerr, Team USA Men’s Basketball coach and Golden State Warriors coach
  • Shawn Fain, president of the United Automobile Workers
  • U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York)
  • Stacey Johnson-Batiste and Doris Johnson
  • Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Click here to watch speech)
  • U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn (South Carolina)
  • U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (Maryland)
  • U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (Texas)
  • U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (New York)
  • Amanda and Josh Zurawski
  • Kaitlyn Joshua
  • Hadley Duvall
  • Gov. Andy Beshear (Kentucky)
  • U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (Georgia)
  • U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (Delaware)
  • Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States (Click here to watch speech)
  • Ashley Biden
  • President Joe Biden (Click here to watch speech)


Tuesday, August 20: A Bold Vision for America’s Future

Procedure

  • Ceremonial roll call vote

Speakers


Wednesday, August 21: A Fight for Our Freedoms

Speakers


Thursday, August 22: For Our Future

Speakers U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar (Texas)


The section below provides the Democratic National Committee's themes for each day of the convention, along with descriptions of the themes provided by the Democratic National Committee in a press release.[13]

Monday: For the People

While Donald Trump puts himself first, Democrats are fighting for the American people. President Biden has exemplified this through his leadership and legacy as a historic president who put the American people’s interest above his own. The accomplishments and results President Biden delivered for people, with Vice President Harris by his side, will be on full display during the convention, as will Kamala Harris’s commitment to fighting on behalf of everyday Americans. At its core, the Harris-Walz ticket is a ticket for the people.[14]

Tuesday: A Bold Vision for America’s Future

This race isn’t just a choice between two candidates. It’s a choice between two very different visions of America. While Donald Trump believes our best days are behind us, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz know the best days lie ahead. Standing in stark contrast to the Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda designed to take us backwards, the Harris-Walz ticket presents a brighter vision where everyone will have a chance not just to get by, but to get ahead.[14]

Wednesday: A Fight for Our Freedoms

Vice President Harris has spent her entire career fighting for Americans’ freedoms. In Governor Tim Walz, Vice President Harris chose as her running mate a champion for America’s working families and a staunch defender of those same fundamental freedoms. Donald Trump spent his four years in office fighting to strip our rights away, and he’s once again running on an extreme agenda to go even farther in turning back the clock on all the freedoms we hold dear.[14]

Thursday: For Our Future

America can’t afford to put Donald Trump back in the White House — because a second Trump term would be even more dangerous and more extreme than the first one. But the choice we face in November isn’t just about us versus Donald Trump. This election is a fight for the future. Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will lead America into a brighter, more hopeful era.[14]

Democratic virtual roll call nomination

See also: Withdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 presidential election and Democratic convention nomination, 2024


Vice President Kamala Harris (D) won the Democratic presidential nomination on August 2, 2024, during a virtual roll call vote of Democratic convention delegates. Harris received 4,563 delegate votes, which amounted to 99% of the delegates.[3][15] Almost all of the delegates were unbound following President Joe Biden's (D) withdrawal from the race.[16][17][18]

Harris was the only qualified candidate. In order to qualify for the virtual roll call, a candidate had to submit the signatures of at least 300 delegates by 6:00 p.m. on July 30, 2024.[16][17] Harris' campaign submitted signatures from 3,923 delegates. Since Harris submitted signatures from a majority of delegates, superdelegates were allowed to participate in the first round of voting at the virtual roll call.

An Associated Press survey of Democratic delegates estimated Vice President Kamala Harris (D) had reached the majority delegate threshold necessary to become the Democratic presidential nominee on July 22, 2024.[19][20]

President Joe Biden (D), the former presumptive Democratic nominee, withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, 2024. He became the presumptive nominee on March 12, 2024, after winning an estimated majority of delegates in the presidential primaries.

Click the links below to read more about


Click here to read more about the Democratic Party's presidential convention nomination.

Presidential nomination virtual roll call

Kamala Harris received 4,563 delegate votes, while 52 delegates voted present, and 79 delegates abstained from voting.[21][22]

After the presidential primaries, Joe Biden was estimated to receive 3,896 delegates, followed by 36 uncommitted delegates, Dean Phillips with four delegates, and Jason Palmer with three delegates. Biden's, Phillips', and Palmer's delegates were all unbound after each candidate withdrew from the presidential race.[23]

In 2020, Biden won the Democratic nomination with 3,558 delegate votes, followed by Bernie Sanders with 1,151, and five abstentions. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination with 2,842 delegate votes, followed by Sanders with 1,865, and 56 unknown or abstention votes.

The following table contains the number of delegates Harris received from each state during the Democratic presidential nomination virtual roll call at held from August 1-5, 2024.[22]

Democratic presidential nomination roll call, 2024
State Harris
Total 4,563
Alabama 56
Alaska 19
American Samoa 10
Arizona 85
Arkansas 36
California 482
Colorado 86
Connecticut 73
Delaware 34
Democrats Abroad1 17
District of Columbia 49
Florida 243
Georgia 121
Guam 12
Hawaii 23
Idaho 27
Illinois 176
Indiana 86
Iowa 45
Kansas 39
Kentucky 56
Louisiana 47
Maine 30
Maryland 118
Massachusetts 116
Michigan 125
Minnesota 81
Mississippi 40
Missouri 68
Montana 24
Nebraska 34
Nevada 48
New Hampshire 34
New Jersey 142
New Mexico 45
New York 298
North Carolina 131
North Dakota 17
Northern Mariana Islands 11
Ohio 142
Oklahoma 41
Oregon 78
Pennsylvania 178
Puerto Rico 60
Rhode Island 34
South Carolina 65
South Dakota 20
Tennessee 72
Texas 263
Utah 34
Vermont 24
Virgin Islands 13
Virginia 119
Washington 101
West Virginia 24
Wisconsin 94
Wyoming 17


Host city

On April 11, 2023, Biden released a statement selecting Chicago, Illinois, as the host for the 2024 Democratic National Convention.[24][1]

On May 27, 2022, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, Houston, Texas, and New York, New York had also submitted bids to host the convention.[25] On January 25, 2023, Reuters reported that the DNC said Houston would not host the convention.[26]

2024 Democratic Party Platform

The Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee released the final version of the party's 2024 platform on August 18, 2024. Delegates voted to approve the platform on August 19, 2024.[27]

State laws and party rules on replacing a presidential nominee

See also: State laws and party rules on replacing a presidential nominee, 2024

Replacing a presumptive nominee before the national convention

The Democratic and Republican parties do not formally nominate candidates until delegates vote at the party's national convention. The Democratic National Convention took place from August 19-22, 2024, and the Republican National Convention took place from July 15-18, 2024.

A party's presumptive nominee, meaning the candidate who receives an estimated majority of delegates after state nominating events, could be replaced at the convention. Delegates could elect a candidate who they were not initially bound to at the time of their state's election. Both state law and party rules govern how a delegate must vote at the national convention, including whether a delegate remains bound to a withdrawn candidate and for how many rounds a delegate remains bound to a candidate.[28]

Both parties also have delegates who are not bound to a particular candidate at the convention. The Republican Party has a total of 104 unbound delegates, and the Democratic Party has a total of 739 unbound delegates. Democratic unbound delegates can only vote if a convention proceeds past the first round of voting.

Replacing a nominee between the national convention and the election

Under Article 2 of The Bylaws of the Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has the responsibility to fill vacancies in presidential and vice presidential nominations between national conventions.[29]

In the event of a vacancy on the national ticket, the chairperson would call a special meeting. Under Article 2 § 8(d), questions before the DNC, with some exceptions otherwise outlined in the charter and bylaws, are determined by a majority vote of the DNC members who are present and voting by proxy. The bylaws also state that voting to fill a vacancy on the national ticket must proceed in accordance with procedural rules adopted by the Rules and Bylaws Committee and approved by the DNC.[29]

It is important to note, however, that states require political parties to submit names of presidential and vice presidential nominees and presidential electors before election day in order to certify them for the general election ballot. Deadlines vary by state and depend on the election calendar, including early voting, voting by mail, and absentee voting considerations.

Call of the 2024 Democratic National Convention

History

The first Democratic national convention was held in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1832 and followed conventions which had been held by the Anti-Masonic and National Republican parties the previous year.[30] Before conventions were introduced, presidential nominees were selected at private caucuses open only to members of Congress.[31] Click here for a breakdown of Democratic national conventions through 2008.

2020 convention

See also: Democratic National Convention, 2020

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) held its presidential nominating convention the week of August 17, 2020, across four stages in New York City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Wilmington.[33][34]

The convention was originally scheduled to take place July 13-16, 2020, in Milwaukee.[35] Organizers postponed the event in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of the convention's events took place remotely. The DNC announced in June 2020 that delegates should not plan to travel to Milwaukee to attend the convention.[36] Instead, votes on reports from the Rules, Platform, and Credentials committees took place remotely from August 3-15, 2020.[37]

The Democratic National Convention Committee announced on August 5, 2020, that former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and other speakers would not travel to Milwaukee.[38] Biden was formally nominated at the convention on August 18, 2020.[39]

Biden announced U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D) as his running mate on August 11, 2020.[40] Harris was the first Black woman to appear on a major party's ticket in the United States.[41]

2016 convention

See also: Democratic National Convention, 2016

The 2016 Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from July 25-28, 2016. At the convention, delegates selected former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) as the party's presidential nominee and Sen. Tim Kaine (D) as the vice presidential nominee. Featured speakers included runner-up candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), Vice President Joe Biden (D), and President Barack Obama (D).

Noteworthy events

Biden withdraws from presidential race (2024)

See also: Withdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 presidential election

On July 21, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) announced on social media platform X that he was ending his campaign for re-election.[42] In a statement, Biden said:

It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.[14]

In a separate post on X, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris (D) to replace him at the top of the ticket: "Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats—it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this."[43]

Democratic National Committee changes presidential certification date in response to Ohio filing deadline

On May 28, 2024, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said it planned to hold a virtual delegate roll call to certify its presidential and vice presidential nominees ahead of the in-person Democratic National Convention, which took place from August 19-22, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois, and ahead of Ohio's presidential ballot certification deadline on August 7. On July 24, 2024, the DNC Rules Committee voted to hold a virtual roll call vote between August 1 and August 7.[16][17] On July 31, the DNC said the vote would take place from August 1 to August 5.[44]

On June 2, 2024, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed a bill into law moving the state's filing deadline to September 1, 2024.[45] On June 4, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee passed a rule allowing the Democratic convention committee to schedule a virtual roll call vote ahead of the convention. The committee said it was doing so due to uncertainty around whether the bill passed in Ohio would take effect in time.[46][47] The Ohio Secretary of State issued an advisory on June 3 saying the bill would take effect ahead of the new September 1 deadline.[48]

In April 2024, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's (R) office sent a letter to the Ohio Democratic Party saying that since the Ohio filing deadline took place before the convention, "the Democratic National Committee must either move up its nominating convention or the Ohio General Assembly must act by May 9, 2024 (90 days prior to a new law's effective date) to create an exception to this statutory requirement."[49][50]

The 2024 Democratic National Convention date also came into conflict with ballot access deadlines in Alabama and Washington. The Alabama State Legislature passed a law changing the deadline, and Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (D) said he would provisionally approve the Democratic nominee's ballot access ahead of the convention.[50]

Recent news

See also

Democratic National Convention, 2016-2024
Use the dropdown menu below to navigate Ballotpedia's historical coverage of Democratic National Conventions.




External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Chicago Sun-Times, "Chicago to host 2024 Democratic National Convention," April 11, 2023
  2. Associated Press, "Democrats approve a platform that mentions Biden’s ‘second term’ despite his making way for Harris," August 19, 2024
  3. 3.0 3.1 USA Today, "Harris makes history as first Black woman, Asian American presidential nominee," August 2, 2024
  4. ABC News, "DNC to nominate Biden and Harris to bypass Ohio ballot issues," May 28, 2024
  5. The New York Times, "Democrats Set Aug. 1 for Harris Nomination Vote," July 24, 2024
  6. CBS News, "Kamala Harris closer to being nominee as DNC approves early virtual roll call vote," July 24, 2024
  7. DNC, "DNC and DNCC Chairs Announce Results of Presidential Nominating Petition Process and Opening of Virtual Roll Call on August 1," July 30, 2024
  8. X, "Joe Biden on July 21, 2024," accessed July 21, 2024
  9. Democratic National Convention, "Main Programming," August 20, 2024
  10. Democratic National Convention, "Main Programming," August 19, 2024
  11. Democratic National Convention, "Main Programming," accessed August 22, 2024
  12. Democratic National Convention, "Main Programming," accessed August 23, 2024
  13. Democratic National Convention, "For the People, For Our Future: Democrats Announce Themes for Four Nights of Convention," August 18, 2024
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  15. CBS News, "DNC virtual roll call vote ends with Kamala Harris receiving 99% of delegate votes. Here are the full results." August 6, 2024
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 The New York Times, "Democrats Set Aug. 1 for Harris Nomination Vote," July 24, 2024
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 CBS News, "Kamala Harris closer to being nominee as DNC approves early virtual roll call vote," July 24, 2024
  18. DNC, "DNC and DNCC Chairs Announce Results of Presidential Nominating Petition Process and Opening of Virtual Roll Call on August 1," July 30, 2024
  19. X, "Joe Biden on July 21, 2024," accessed July 21, 2024
  20. Associated Press, "AP Democratic Delegate Survey," July 23, 2024
  21. PBS, "Convention delegates will nominate Harris for second time. Less suspense but more pizzazz expected," August 20, 2024
  22. 22.0 22.1 CBS News, "DNC virtual roll call vote ends with Kamala Harris receiving 99% of delegate votes. Here are the full results." August 6, 2024
  23. Associated Press, "2024 Presidential Delegate Count," accessed August 28, 2024
  24. NBC News, "Democrats choose Chicago for their 2024 convention," April 11, 2023
  25. Chicago Sun-Times, "New York jumps in race to host 2024 Democratic National Convention: Big competition for Chicago," May 27, 2022
  26. Twitter, "Jarret Renshaw on January 25, 2023," accessed January 26, 2023
  27. Associated Press, "Democrats approve a platform that mentions Biden’s ‘second term’ despite his making way for Harris," August 19, 2024
  28. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named politifact
  29. 29.0 29.1 Democratic National Committee, "The Charter & The Bylaws of the Democratic Party of the United States," March 12, 2022
  30. National Constitution Center, "On this day, the first Democratic Party convention," May 21, 2018
  31. Reuters, "How selecting U.S. presidential candidates became the people's choice," March 29, 2016
  32. About.com American History, "Democratic National Conventions," accessed March 30, 2014
  33. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "2020 DNC in Milwaukee pushed back to week of August 17 in response to coronavirus pandemic," April 2, 2020
  34. CNN, "5 things to know for August 17: USPS, coronavirus, DNC, Russia investigation, Belarus," August 17, 2020
  35. The New York Times, "Milwaukee Picked as Site of 2020 Democratic National Convention," March 11, 2019
  36. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CNBC
  37. ABC News, "Democrats announce convention schedule, party officers for 2020 gathering transformed by coronavirus," July 29, 2020
  38. ABC News, "Biden will no longer travel to Milwaukee for DNC amid coronavirus concerns," August 5, 2020
  39. AP, "Biden formally clinches Democratic presidential nomination," June 5, 2020
  40. Twitter, "Joe Biden," August 11, 2020
  41. CNBC, "Joe Biden picks Sen. Kamala Harris to be his vice presidential running mate, making her the first black woman on a major ticket," August 11, 2020
  42. X.com, "Biden announces withdrawal from 2024 presidential election," accessed July 21, 2024
  43. X.com, "Joe Biden endorses Kamala Harris," accessed July 21, 2024
  44. DNC, "DNC and DNCC Chairs Announce Results of Presidential Nominating Petition Process and Opening of Virtual Roll Call on August 1," July 30, 2024
  45. 13 Action News, "Gov. DeWine signs bill to allow President Biden to appear on Ohio’s fall ballot," June 2, 2024
  46. ABC News, "DNC to nominate Biden and Harris to bypass Ohio ballot issues," May 28, 2024
  47. YouTube, "DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee Meeting - June 4, 2024," June 4, 2024
  48. Ohio Secretary of State, "H.B. 2, Presidential Candidates (135th General Assembly – Special Session)," June 3, 2024
  49. ABC News, "Biden could face challenges getting on Ohio general ballot," April 5, 2024
  50. 50.0 50.1 Columbus Dispatch, "Democrats to nominate Joe Biden in virtual session to ensure he's on Ohio ballot," May 28, 2024