By Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) – Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison is not expected to seek renomination when the party holds a leadership vote early next year, according to two sources familiar with his thinking.
Harrison, who was criticized for strongly backing Joe Biden’s effort to stay in the 2024 race before he dropped out in July, signaled his plans to leave the position before Tuesday’s disappointing results for Democrats, the sources said.
Harrison, 48, is expected to hold an all-staff meeting on Wednesday to discuss the results, why they fell short of his public expectations and a potential timeline for a leadership vote, which is expected before April, the sources said.
Anger and soul-searching took hold of the Democratic Party early on Wednesday morning, after Vice President Kamala Harris suffered an election loss to Republican Donald Trump that left some party officials and voters dumbfounded.
Harrison did not respond to a request for comment.
Potential successors to Harrison include governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Phil Murphy of New Jersey, along with Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams and Ken Martin, who runs the state party in Minnesota, the sources told Reuters.
Harrison was nominated for the DNC chair role by Biden after his 2020 victory and was elected to the post in January 2021. He is part of an influential group of Black Democrats from South Carolina that includes congressman James Clyburn and current White House official Stephen Benjamin.
Harrison helped usher in a new primary election map for the Democrat Party that pushed less-diverse Iowa out of the top spot and replaced it with South Carolina and its sizable Black population.
He also was the public face of the effort to keep Biden at the top of Democratic ticket as the president faced pressure to step down after a poor debate performance in June that raised questions about his age and mental fitness.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; editing by Susan Heavey and Deepa Babington)
