2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries
Presidential primary
Opinion polls
First place by expected pledged delegate allocation
First place by popular vote
Joe Biden
Jason Palmer
Primary canceled
Roll call nomination
From January 23 to June 8, 2024, presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the delegates to the 2024 Democratic National Convention , to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2024 United States presidential election . The elections took place in all U.S. states except Florida and Delaware, in the District of Columbia , in five U.S. territories , and as organized by Democrats Abroad .[ 16]
Incumbent President Joe Biden had repeatedly expressed his intent to run for re-election since 2021, although there was speculation in the first two years of his presidency that he might not seek a second term due to his age and low approval ratings.[ 17] [ 18] Former Democratic House representatives, including Carolyn Maloney ,[ 19] Joe Cunningham ,[ 20] and Tim Ryan ,[ 21] had publicly said Biden should not run. On July 28, 2022, Representative Dean Phillips became the first incumbent Democratic member of Congress to say President Biden should not run for re-election and called for "generational change" pointing to Biden's age.[ 22] [ 23] There was also speculation that Biden might face a primary challenge, especially from a member of the Democratic Party's progressive faction .[ 24] [ 25]
After Democrats outperformed expectations in the 2022 midterm elections , many believed the chances that Biden would run for and win his party's nomination had increased.[ 26] [ 27] On April 25, 2023, Biden announced via a video that he would be running for re-election.[ 28] Eventually, three main primary opponents emerged; self-help author Marianne Williamson declared her candidacy in March,[ 29] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , an anti-vaccine activist and environmental attorney,[ 30] declared in April,[ 31] while Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota declared in October.[ 32] Phillips campaigned as a younger alternative to Biden, who would be a stronger opponent to Trump.[ 33] [ 34] [ 35] Before launching his campaign, Phillips reportedly reached out to other elected Democratic officials, such as Governors Gretchen Whitmer and JB Pritzker , to convince them to enter the presidential primary race to oppose Biden, but they declined to speak with him directly.[ 36] [ 37] Additionally, the Uncommitted National Movement , supported by some Muslim Americans , Arab Americans , progressives , and socialists began advocating in 2024 for an uncommitted vote in protest against Biden due to his support for Israel during the Israel–Hamas war .[ 38] [ 39] [ 40]
Kennedy withdrew from the Democratic primaries in October 2023 to run as an independent candidate .[ 41] Williamson suspended her campaign following the Nevada primary in February 2024,[ 42] before unsuspending her campaign following the Michigan primary later that month.[ 43] On March 6, 2024, Phillips suspended his campaign and endorsed Biden.[ 44] Phillips received the second-highest number of delegates in the primaries of any candidate (four delegates gained).[ 13] [ 45] Biden lost American Samoa to venture capitalist Jason Palmer ,[ f] becoming the first incumbent president to lose a contest while appearing on the ballot since Jimmy Carter in 1980 .[ 46] However, he won every other contest by a large margin.
President Biden withdrew his candidacy on July 21, following a series of age and health concerns , writing that doing so was "in the best interest of my party and the country". He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.[ 47] By the next day, Harris had secured the non-binding support of enough uncommitted delegates that were previously pledged to Biden to make her the presumptive nominee .[ 48] Harris became the nominee following a virtual roll call with the support of approximately 98.9% of the delegates and opposition from 52 delegates including notable abstentions from U.S. Representative Mary Peltola , U.S. Representative Jared Golden , and U.S. Senator Jon Tester .[ 49] [ 50] [ 51] Harris is the first Democratic nominee to be nominated despite not actively campaigning in the primaries since Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 United States presidential election , and the first to be nominated without winning the primaries since the modern Democratic Party primary procedure was created in 1972 .
Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz , would ultimately lose the election to the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and JD Vance .[ 52]
^ "Democratic Convention 2024" . The Green Papers .
^ "2024 Presidential Delegate Count" . Associated Press . Retrieved July 3, 2024 .
^ "Presidential Primary Delegate Tracker 2024: Vote Counts by State" . www.nbcnews.com . July 23, 2024.
^ "Nationwide Popular Vote, excluding MO, MS, IN" . The Green Papers. Retrieved July 4, 2024 .
^ "Massachusetts Presidential Primary Election Results 2024" . NBC News . Retrieved March 21, 2024 .
^ "Illinois Presidential Primary Election Results 2024" . NBC News . Retrieved March 21, 2024 .
^ "Washington Presidential Primary Election Results 2024" . NBC News . Retrieved March 21, 2024 .
^ "Rhode Island Presidential Primary Election Results 2024" . NBC News . Retrieved April 2, 2024 .
^ "Wisconsin Presidential Primary Election Results 2024" . NBC News . Retrieved April 2, 2024 .
^ "Pennsylvania Presidential Primary Election Results 2024" . NBC News . Retrieved April 24, 2024 .
^ "Nebraska Presidential Primary Election Results 2024" . NBC News . Retrieved April 24, 2024 .
^ "New Jersey Presidential Primary Election Results 2024" . NBC News . Retrieved June 6, 2024 .
^ a b "2024 Presidential Primary Delegate Tracker" . USA Today . Retrieved May 19, 2024 .
^ "Why do US parties hold presidential conventions? What to know, in 500 words" . Al Jazeera . August 13, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2024 .
^ Oppenheim, Oren; Shepherd, Brittany; Murray, Isabella (August 6, 2024). "Kamala Harris earns majority of Democratic roll call votes, achieving historic presidential nomination" . ABC News . Retrieved October 10, 2024 .
^ Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee (April 13, 2022). "Resolution on the Principles and Framework of a Transparent and Fair Review of the Presidential Nominating Calendar" (PDF) . democrats.org . p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022 .
^ Gangitano, Alex (November 18, 2021). "Harris says 2024 is 'absolutely not' being discussed yet with Biden" . The Hill . Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021 .
^ Gittleson, Ben (December 22, 2021). "Biden tells ABC's David Muir 'yes' he'll run again, Trump rematch would 'increase the prospect' " . ABC News. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022 .
^ Watson, Kathryn (August 15, 2022). "Rep. Carolyn Maloney says "off the record," Biden is "not running again" " . CBS News . Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022 .
^ Vakil, Caroline (June 23, 2022). "SC Democratic governor candidate says Biden shouldn't run in 2024 due to age" . The Hill . Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022 .
^ Reimann, Nicholas. "Rep. Tim Ryan Suggests Biden Shouldn't Run In 2024—Joining These Other Democrats" . Forbes . Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022 .
^ Garrison, Joey (July 29, 2022). "Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips says he doesn't want Biden to run for reelection in 2024" . USA Today. Retrieved December 24, 2024 .
^ Zhao, Christina (July 29, 2022). "Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips says he doesn't want Biden to run in 2024" . NBC News. Retrieved December 24, 2024 .
^ Otterbein, Holly (January 1, 2022). "The left is already looking to 2024. Some want to see a Biden primary challenge" . Politico . Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2022 .
^ Dorman, John L. (January 2, 2022). "Former Sanders presidential campaign manager says Biden will have 'a progressive challenger' in 2024" . Business Insider . Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2022 .
^ Enten, Harry (November 13, 2022). "How Joe Biden and the Democratic Party defied midterm history" . CNN. Retrieved November 13, 2022 .
^ Enten, Harry (December 18, 2022). "How the midterms changed the 2024 primaries for Biden and Trump" . CNN. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022 .
^ Doyle, Katherine; Alba, Monical (April 25, 2023). "Biden announces he is running for re-election, framing 2024 as a choice between 'more rights or fewer' " . NBC News. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023 .
^ Weissert, Will (March 4, 2023). "Marianne Williamson opens long shot 2024 challenge to Biden" . San Diego Union-Tribune . Associated Press . Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023 .
^ Multiple sources:
Dorn, Sara (July 18, 2023). "RFK Jr.'s Family Denounces Claim That Jews, Chinese Are Immune To Covid: Here Are All The Other Conspiracies He Promotes" . Forbes . Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023 .
"RFK Jr. is building a presidential campaign around conspiracy theories" . NPR. July 13, 2023. Archived from the original on September 9, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023 .
Pengelly, Martin (December 18, 2021). "Guests urged to be vaccinated at anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr's party" . The Guardian . Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2023 .
Cabral, Sam (July 17, 2023). "RFK Jr's conspiracy theories and Republican supporters" . BBC News. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023 .
Traister, Rebecca (June 30, 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Inside Job" . Intelligencer . Archived from the original on September 13, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023 .
Collins, Eliza (June 22, 2023). "RFK Jr.'s White House Bid Is a Mix of Nostalgia and Conspiracy Theories" . The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2023 .
^ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launches long shot presidential bid as a Democrat" . ABC News. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023 .
^ Otterbein, Holly; Schneider, Elena (October 26, 2023). "Rep. Dean Phillips files paperwork for presidential bid against Biden" . Politico . Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023 .
^ Wong, Scott; Vitali, Ali; Traylor, Jake (October 27, 2023). " 'A head scratcher': Dems baffled by Dean Phillips' quixotic bid against Biden" . NBC News. Retrieved January 1, 2025 .
^ Skelley, Geoffrey (October 31, 2023). "The curious case of Dean Phillips's last-minute primary challenge" . ABC News. Retrieved January 1, 2025 .
^ John, Arit; McKend, Eva; Pellish, Aaron (October 27, 2023). "House Democrat Dean Phillips launches primary challenge against President Biden" . CNN. Retrieved January 1, 2024 .
^ Hall, Madison (October 31, 2023). "A congressman tried to get the governors of Michigan and Illinois to run against Biden in the Democratic primary, but they wouldn't directly take his calls" . Business Insider. Retrieved December 6, 2024 .
^ Alberta, Tim (October 27, 2023). "Dean Phillips Has a Warning for Democrats" . The Atlantic. Retrieved December 6, 2024 .
^ Mueller, Julia (February 29, 2024). "Biden critics look to replicate Michigan's 'uncommitted' vote in other states" . The Hill . Retrieved March 3, 2024 .
^ Stepansky, Joseph; Silmi, Malak. "Birth of a Movement: Michigan's Arab voters rise up to challenge Biden" . Al Jazeera. Retrieved March 3, 2024 .
^ John, Arit; Gallagher, Dianne (February 26, 2024). "Arab American Democrats push for 'uncommitted' vote in Michigan primary to send message to Biden about Gaza" . CNN. Retrieved March 31, 2024 .
^ Swenson, Ali (October 9, 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will run for president as an independent and drop his Democratic primary bid" . Associated Press . Archived from the original on December 14, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023 .
^ Gibson, Brittany (February 7, 2024). "Marianne Williamson ends her 2024 presidential run" . Politico . Retrieved February 8, 2024 .
^ Garrison, Joey (February 28, 2024). "Marianne Williamson says she is 'unsuspending' her longshot presidential campaign" . USA Today. Retrieved February 28, 2024 .
^ Shabad, Rebecca; Egwuonwu, Nnamdi (March 6, 2024). "Dean Phillips ends presidential campaign and endorses Biden" . NBC News. Retrieved March 6, 2024 .
^ "US election 2024 primaries: follow live results" . The Guardian . March 19, 2024. Retrieved May 23, 2024 .
^ Bickerton, James (March 6, 2024). "Joe Biden is first incumbent president to lose a primary in 44 years" . Newsweek . Retrieved March 6, 2024 .
^ " 'If You Can Keep It': Joe Biden is out. What's Next For the Democratic Party?" . NPR . July 22, 2024. Retrieved July 27, 2024 .
^ Miller, Zeke; Askarinam, Leah; Sweedler, Maya; Day, Chay (July 23, 2024). "Harris has support of enough Democratic delegates to become party's presidential nominee: AP survey" . Associated Press. Retrieved July 23, 2024 .
^ Kim, Seung Min (August 5, 2024). "Kamala Harris is now Democratic presidential nominee, will face off against Donald Trump this fall" . Associated Press . Retrieved August 14, 2024 .
^ Cite error: The named reference cbsaug3
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^ Kobin, Billy (August 5, 2024). "Jared Golden won't join Democrats in vote to nominate Kamala Harris" . Bangor Daily News. Retrieved August 24, 2024 .
^ "Harris called Trump to concede US presidential election, aides say" . Reuters . November 6, 2024. Retrieved November 6, 2024 .
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