What Would Happen if Clinton Dropped Out of the Race for President?
Video of an apparently ailing Hillary Clinton being helped into a van Sunday as she left a memorial service marking the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks has led some to ask: What would happen if the Democratic presidential candidate were to withdraw from the race for the White House?
A sign along a road near the home of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wishes her well Monday in Chappaqua, New York. Clinton canceled a California campaign fundraising trip after she fell ill at a 9/11 memorial ceremony Sunday and her doctor revealed she was diagnosed with pneumonia. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)
Journalist and author Cokie Roberts said Monday on NPR’s “Morning Edition” that Democratic insiders are “nervously beginning to whisper” about the possibility of Clinton stepping aside amid lingering questions about her health.
Journalist David Shuster tweeted similar claims about the party’s internal debates over the candidacy of the former secretary of state:
DNC delegate: If @HillaryClinton withdraws, every indication now committee will vote to replace with Biden. @BernieSanders team scrambling
Following the release of the video, Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that the campaign would release “additional medical information” about the candidate, although he vowed “there is no other undisclosed condition.”
Clinton’s withdrawal from the race remains hypothetical, but what would happen if a Democratic presidential candidate had to be replaced on the national ticket?
According to the bylaws of the Democratic National Committee:
Special meetings of the National Committee may be held upon the call of the Chairperson with the approval of the Executive Committee with reasonable notice to the members, and no action may be taken at such a special meeting unless such proposed action was included in the notice of the special meeting. The foregoing notwithstanding, a special meeting to fill a vacancy on the National ticket shall be held on the call of the Chairperson, who shall set the date for such meeting in accordance with the procedural rules provided for in Article Two, Section 8(d) of these Bylaws.
In the case of such an event, the rules state that “all questions before the Democratic National Committee shall be determined by majority vote of those members present and voting in person or by proxy.”
They also state that “for purposes of voting to fill a vacancy on the National ticket, a quorum shall be a majority of the full membership present in person.”
In other words, committee members would vote to nominate a replacement for Clinton. Some have speculated that the members could vote to select Vice President Joe Biden or one of Clinton’s former rivals for the nomination such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
If the Democratic candidate needed to withdraw prior to state ballot deadlines, the party could likely replace its nominee on state ballots. The New York Daily News notes that after that point, however, a slew of differing rules in different states may prevent a new candidate’s name from appearing on some states’ ballots.
TheBlaze previously examined what would happen should a Republican presidential nominee need to be replaced.