Why AP isn’t using ‘presumptive nominee’ to describe Trump or Biden

2024-12-24 09:43:23 source: category:Back

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are the last remaining major candidates for their parties’ 2024 presidential nominations.

But they’re not the “presumptive nominees” just yet.

The Associated Press only uses the designation once a candidate has captured the number of delegates needed to win a majority vote at the national party conventions this summer. The earliest point that could happen for either candidate is Tuesday, when contests are held in Georgia, Mississippi, Washington and Hawaii.

A presidential candidate doesn’t officially become the Republican or Democratic nominee until winning the vote on the convention floor. It hasn’t always been this way. Decades ago, presidential candidates might have run in primaries and caucuses, but the contests were mostly ornamental in nature, and the eventual nominees weren’t known until delegates and party bosses hashed things out themselves at the conventions.

Election 2024 The Democratic protest vote movement over the Israel-Hamas war spreads from Michigan to other states Could Biden and Trump win their parties’ nominations this week? What to watch in the next contests More than 20 progressive groups form a coalition to counter pro-Israel groups before the election

Today, the tables have turned. Now, it’s the conventions that are largely ornamental, and it’s the votes cast in primaries and caucuses that decide the nominees. Because of this role reversal, for the last half-century or so, the eventual nominees were known before the conventions, sometimes long before the conventions or even long before they’d won enough delegates to unofficially clinch the nomination.

Nonetheless, the AP won’t call anyone the “presumptive nominee” until a candidate has reached the so-called magic number of delegates needed for a majority at the convention. That’s true even if the candidate is the only major competitor still in the race.

For Republicans, that magic number is 1,215; for Democrats, it’s more of a moving target but currently stands at 1,968.

More:Back

Recommend

Bitcoin has topped $87,000 for a new record high. What to know about crypto’s post-election rally

NEW YORK (AP) — As money continues to pour into crypto following Donald Trump’s victory last week, b

No Labels abandons plans for unity ticket in 2024 presidential race

Washington — No Labels, the centrist political group, is abandoning its effort to draft a third-part

More than 2 million Black+Decker garment steamers recalled after dozens scalded

Empower Brands is recalling more than two million Black+Decker Easy Garment Steamers sold nationwide