Do Florida delegates still have to vote for him?

With weeks before the Democratic National Convention that would have formally nominated President Joe Biden to be the party’s candidate for president of the United States in an election less than four months away, Biden ended his reelection campaign and dropped out of the race.

Persistent questions about his age and poor performance in his first debate against GOP candidate and former president Donald Trump led to pressure from his own party to step down. Biden has since endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee.

So what happens with the Florida delegates who were already pledged to him?

Was President Joe Biden the official 2024 Democratic candidate for president?

Not yet. Biden was the presumptive candidate, having won enough delegates in the presidential primaries to qualify.

Before dropping out, Biden received 3,896 pledged delegates nationwide ahead of the convention, where he would have officially become the party’s presidential nominee. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for August 19-22, 2024 in Chicago.

How many Democratic delegates does Florida have?

Florida has a total of 254 delegates and 19 alternates for the 2024 Democratic National Convention:

146 District-Level Delegates
30 Automatic Delegates
29 PLEO(Party Leader and Elected Officials) Delegates
49 At-Large Delegates
19 At-Large Alternates

Do Florida delegates have to vote for Biden?

Not anymore. Florida delegates who were previously bound to vote for Biden at the convention are now unbound, meaning they are allowed to vote for a candidate of their choosing, according to Ballotpedia.

Nearly one-third of the U.S. states have language in their election code specifically referencing how many ballots to which a delegate should or must be bound at a national convention, although 12 of them allow delegates to be released if a candidate withdraws.

Florida Statute §103.101 says that “Any party rule directing the vote of delegates at a national nominating convention shall reasonably reflect the results of the presidential preference primary, if one is held.”

The Florida Democrats did not hold a primary for this election as President Joe Biden was the only candidate nominated.

The Florida Democratic Party simply says, according to the Florida Democratic Delegate Selection Plan for the 2024 Democratic National Convention:

No delegate at any level of the delegate selection process can be mandated by law or Party rules to vote contrary to that person’s presidential choice as expressed at the time the delegate is elected.
Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.

Will Biden be on the Florida ballot?

In Florida, the parties submit the names of the candidates who will represent them after their conventions, according to the state elections website. The ballot will reflect whoever is selected by the delegates at the convention.

What happens at an open convention?

An open convention happens when there isn’t a pre-determined nominee and the selection happens at the convention, with delegates free to vote for whichever candidate they want, similar to the more raucous method used before primaries.

The Democratic party hasn’t had an open convention since 1968 during disputes over the Vietnam War.