Texas Democratic Party chair Gilberto Hinojosa speaks at a rally in 2021. Photo: Sergio Flores/Getty Images
Delegates to the Democratic National Convention are pleading for as much time as possible to decide whether Biden should lead their ticket, delegates and state party officials told Axios.
🤷♀️ The delegates are still in the dark about when they are required to hold their "virtual roll calls" to nominate their presidential candidate.
😳 Democrats — from lawmakers facing re-election to activists who make the party run — are still spooked by Biden's jarring debate performance last week. They want time and options in case Biden steps aside or is forced out by donors or lawmakers.
In May, the Democratic National Committee announced plans to nominate its ticket via virtual roll calls of delegates weeks before the party's convention in Chicago, which starts Aug. 19.
Officials have said the roll call needs to happen before Aug. 7, the deadline to get on the ballot in Ohio.
🗣️ What they're saying: "We need as much time as possible," a party delegate from the Northeast told Axios. "There's no way we can make a decision in two or three weeks."
"We are still waiting to hear what Biden is going to do," Gilberto Hinojosa, chair of the Texas Democratic Party, told Axios. "Our national Democratic leadership has to make a decision on what is ultimately the best for America — and this world."
"The primary is over, and in every state the will of Democratic voters was clear: Joe Biden will be the Democratic Party's nominee for president," DNC chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.
