President Joe Biden is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, the president said in a letter posted to X. Here are some of the Democrats who could become the party’s nominee.
Kamala Harris
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Seen as the frontrunner to replace Biden on the ticket is his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris, 59, would have a head start over several of the most discussed Democratic alternatives: She’s already been on a winning presidential ticket with Biden, has years of goodwill banked with core party constituencies and would likely control a huge campaign fund amassed by the Biden reelection. Harris is the first woman to serve as vice president as well as the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve in the office. At this week’s Republican convention, speakers have frequently criticized not just Biden but Harris, warming up talking points for the person seen as the most likely to step into Biden’s place.
As the second Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate and first Black American elected as vice president, Kamala Harris is no stranger to making history. Here’s what you may not know.
Gretchen Whitmer
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Her swift ascent over two decades — from law school graduate to Michigan’s governor — has established 52-year-old Gretchen Whitmer as a prominent figure within the Democratic Party. Her status was solidified in 2022 with a decisive reelection and the party’s success in flipping both chambers of the state legislature, granting Democrats full control in Michigan for the first time in nearly four decades. She famously sparred with former President Donald Trump over the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in her first term and Trump’s reference to Whitmer as “that woman from Michigan” during a White House news briefing raised her national profile. Whitmer blames the former president for fueling the political hatred that motivated a plot to kidnap and kill her that unfolded in 2020.
Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, was born on August 23 in 1971 and was elected as the 49th governor of Michigan in 2019.
Gavin Newsom
Another governor near the top of the list is Gavin Newsom of California, who’s expressed strong support for Biden, especially since the June 27 debate, hitting the campaign trail to stump for the president in Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Hampshire. At 56, the ambitious big-state governor offers credibility and excitement as one of the Democratic Party’s brightest rising stars with close ties to California’s powerful donor network. And he’s long been expected to launch his own presidential bid, possibly as soon as 2028.
Here are five things to know about Gavin Newsom, the 40th Governor of California.
Pete Buttigieg
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Biden’s 42-year-old transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg is another Democratic rising star who made a name for himself with his 2020 presidential primary campaign gaining widespread grassroots support. Upon suspending his campaign to, as he said at the time, “bring our party and country together,” Buttigieg turned his support toward Biden, who praised “Mayor Pete” for his great campaign and later nominated him for transportation secretary. At 38, Buttigieg became the first openly gay Cabinet secretary in U.S. history and the youngest person ever to serve in the transportation secretary role.
Here are five things to know about Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Ind., Mayor.
Josh Shapiro
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The 51-year-old governor of Pennsylvania is another Democrat seen as a contender.
The former corporate lawyer was elected governor in 2021, becoming the third Jewish governor to lead the state. Prior to that he’d served as the state’s attorney general since 2017. As attorney general, Shapiro released the findings of a statewide grand jury report that revealed the abuse of children by priests and a coverup by Pennsylvania church leaders.
And, notably — since the recent assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally that left one rallygoer dead, two seriously hurt, Trump himself with an injury and scores of spectators traumatized, the governor has been thrust into a position of managing a situation no politician ever wants to confront. His rising to the moment has so far earned Shapiro praise from Republicans and Democrats alike, for his public presence and private communication.
Here are five things to know about Josh Shapiro, the 48th governor of Pennsylvania.
Andy Beshear
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Kentucky’s 46-year-old governor Andy Beshear is another of the several Democratic governors viewed as a potential candidate to join the party’s presidential ticket. His hard-fought victories over Trump-endorsed GOP opponents in the red-leaning state in both 2019 and 2023 raised his national profile. Beshear’s ability to win in Republican territory has helped him burnish a reputation as a next-generation leader in the Democratic Party, and he’s said his approach toward winning in GOP-friendly territory includes “stepping back from whatever the outrage of the day is in Washington, D.C.” and focusing on people’s everyday concerns. In recent months, he has traveled the country and made speeches before Democratic groups, including an appearance at a fundraiser and watch party in Los Angeles on the night of Biden’s debate stumble.
Governor Andy Beshear is a two-term governor, a second-generation Kentucky politician and a Democrat. Here’s what you need to know.
J.B. Pritzker
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J.B. Pritzker, a former businessman-turned-politician, was elected Illinois governor in 2018 and reelected in 2022. With a net worth of more than $3 billion at the time of his first gubernatorial inauguration in 2019, Pritzker became the one of the richest politicians in the United States. Pritzker has long defended abortion rights and held up Illinois as a beacon of reproductive freedom in the Midwest, welcoming women from red states. The billionaire governor launched a nonprofit committee that combats abortion restrictions and political extremism across the U.S., and he continues to invest his own funds into competitive races in states where abortion rights are threatened. Pritzker has also been vocal against book bans, a rollback of voting rights and erosion of trust in government institutions as the results of a more extreme Republican Party.
Here are five things to know about J.B. Pritzker, the 43rd governor of Illinois.