public InternalDistributedMember getElderId() throws DistributedSystemDisconnectedException {
    if (clusterDistributionManager.isCloseInProgress()) {
      throw new DistributedSystemDisconnectedException(
          "no valid elder when system is shutting down",
          clusterDistributionManager.getRootCause());
    }
    clusterDistributionManager.getSystem().getCancelCriterion().checkCancelInProgress(null);

    return getElderCandidate();
  }
Based on a recent JGroups view, return a member that might be the next elder.

@return the elder candidate, possibly this VM.
geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/ClusterElderManager.java