(WIFR) – The 2024 Democratic National Convention is expected to look a lot different in a couple of weeks with the party hosting its first open convention in more than 50 years.
An open convention, also known as a brokered convention, happens when party delegates do not rally around a single candidate during the first round of voting at the nominating convention. This frees delegates that were pledged to a particular candidate to come together in support of an official nominee. The departure of President Joe Biden from the 2024 race frees his delegates to show their support for another candidate, which many political experts believe will mean Vice President Kamala Harris will secure the nomination.
The last time the country saw a brokered convention was in 1952 when Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson won the Democratic nomination after three rounds of voting. He would ultimately lose the Presidency to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Rockford University political science professor Bob Evans says at that time, fewer than half the states held primary elections. Which meant whoever appeared on the ballot was anyone’s guess.
“Now, because somebody will win enough primaries, it’s likely that when a convention meets, we will know who the nominee will be. And we did, it was going to be Biden, except for the fact that he surprised everyone and pulled out,” Evans says.
In 1968, then President Lyndon B. Johnson withdrew his re-election bid, leaving Vice President Hubert Humphrey to front the nomination. History.com shares that the democratic party became unstable as party members battled over nationwide issues. Humphrey would lose the election to Richard Nixon later that year. The chaos of that convention led to a reform that gave ordinary party members in each state the opportunity to have a say in a nominee. Former U.S. Congressman Don Manzullo says this is a game of political chess, now, it’s up to the delegates to make the right move.
“Delegates that represent him, who were voted for by the people in each state are now really free agents,” Manzullo says. They can vote for whomever they want. This could be wild.”
With the lessons of the past open conventions behind them, Evans says Democrats don’t want to use the convention to fight over a nominee. Rather, he says, they need to use it as a showcase for what they have done for our country and what comes next.
“We’ll see at this convention if the states band together in all and endorse Vice President Harris, in which case you wouldn’t have that kind of struggle on the floor of the convention,” Evans says.
Around 2,000 of the 4,000 delegates need to rally around Vice President Harris for her to win the nomination. But, as Evans explains, none of them are legally bound to support her.
The Democratic National Convention will take place August 19-22 in Chicago. This is the first time since 1996 that the Windy City will host the DNC since former President Bill Clinton was nominated for a second term.
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