INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The chair of the Indiana Democratic Party does not mince words as he describes the uncertain days before President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign.

“It was nerve-wracking. Gut-wrenching. It was painful. And now that’s gone away,” Mike Schmuhl in a Monday interview on WISH-TV’s Daybreak.

With Biden’s decision now done, Daybreak asked for the story behind the quick decision from Democrat party leaders across America to immediately endorse Biden’s own pick to replace him.

“The first thing that happened was all 50 chairs from around the country, my counterparts in all 50 states, we got on a conference call. We had a good discussion and decided to get behind Vice President Kamala Harris to be our nominee to take on Donald Trump in November.”

Schmuhl says Sunday’s initial endorsement could grow even more solid today.

“We’re probably going to convene our state Central Committee — that’s the leaders of the Democratic Party from around our state — later this afternoon to talk about that endorsement to put a stamp on that,” he explained.

Another meeting will carry even more weight: Schmuhl says the party will talk to the delegates who will cast the actual votes that will determine if Harris, or someone else, gets the nomination.

“The delegates are no longer pledged,” he told us, explaining why it’s important to gauge the strength of their support. “Obviously Joe Biden, in our May primary here in Indiana, the Democratic primary, he was unopposed. So he received 100% of the support of folks who pulled a democratic ballot. That means that up until really yesterday, those delegates were pledged to him that they would support him and they were reflecting the will of the primary voters. Now that’s changed.”

Schmuhl was the national campaign manager for former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the 2020 electoral cycle, so we asked if he was surprised that Buttigieg quickly endorsed Harris, too.
Buttigieg’s name had gotten some traction as a possible replacement for Biden. Schmuhl indicated that Biden’s move to endorse Harris immediately likely influenced the decision.

“I think the President’s weight, and his endorsement, goes a really long way. Four years ago, he selected her to be his running mate. She has been his governing partner. She’s Vice President of the United States, and she made history in doing so as the first woman and the first person of color to be vice president,” Schmuhl said. “That carries tremendous power and tremendous weight.”

Schmuhl and the Indiana Democratic Party announced Monday that former U.S. Senator and Ambassador to the Vatican Joe Donnelly will serve as Delegation Chair for Indiana to the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.