COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Bisbee Mayor Ken Budge is a delegate for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and found out President Joe Biden dropped out of the election like everyone else, from his announcement on social media.
He's one of more than 4,000 delegates in the DNC. Budge says he’s feeling optimistic about the next nominee and the party, despite being a few months away from the election.
“To be quite honest, it was a bit of a shock," Budge said. "I thought he would probably hang in there. But, as the pressure mounted, I thought he might do the right thing, and he thought for the betterment of the party, and I'm proud of him for that.”
He says he was shocked to see the president’s announcement Sunday morning, but says it's not completely surprising because of the pressure since the debate.
Budge says under the Biden administration the City of Bisbee has received $21 million in grants for infrastructure needs. He says no matter the presidential administration, as mayor he will continue to push for federal grants to help the city.
Budge says he would have supported Biden in November, since he was a pledged delegate to him, but thinks the president did the right thing by dropping out of the election.
“The only thing that's a little bit dicey here is that, that candidates are really vetted," he said. "I mean, it's a very hard time to vet, somebody within a few, few days, or even a few weeks. But I think we have a lot of good choices out there.”
Budge says he will talk with the precincts in his area to hear who they’d like to see as the next nominee, because he wants to hear from the people he represents. The mayor wouldn't say who his choice would be for the new presidential nominee, but, he did say it would be nice to have Senator Mark Kelly as a choice for Vice President because then he would know Arizona would be represented in the White House.
Budge said a person would need support from 300 delegates before the delegation would vote that person as the nominee. He did not know when any of the votes would take place because the news just broke. Budge did say the convention could be where they have an open vote.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
