Why Any Biden Replacement Besides Harris Would Face A Major Fundraising Hassle

If President Joe Biden does not run for reelection, Vice President Kamala Harris would have a major practical advantage over other possible candidates for the Democratic presidential nominee.

That’s because only Harris could seamlessly assume complete control of the president’s campaign war chest, making the vice president the easiest option, at least financially, to replace Biden at the top of the ticket.

“It’s uncharted waters, and for a candidate other than the vice president, it’s going to put a burden on raising a lot of money very quickly,” Larry Noble, the former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission, told HuffPost.

Transferring everything to another candidate besides Harris becomes much trickier, if not impossible, according to experts who emphasize the unprecedented nature of the situation currently facing Democrats. In that case, the Biden-Harris account could roll everything over into a political action committee, turn it over to the Democratic National Committee, or refund donors and ask them to contribute to a new committee. None of these are ideal options.

“Because President Biden and Vice President Harris share an authorized campaign committee … if President Biden were to cease being a candidate and was succeeded as the nominee by Harris, she would maintain access to all the funds in the committee and could use them to advance her presidential candidacy,” Trevor Potter, the president of the Campaign Legal Center, a campaign finance watchdog, explained on social media this week.

A new campaign would also have to pay for campaign infrastructure like staffers, field offices and existing ad buys at fair market value since it’s all subject to in-kind contribution limits.

“The Biden-Harris campaign