President Biden’s stumbles in the debates with former President Donald J. Trump have some Democrats pondering a list of potential candidates, raising the possibility of nominating an alternative. At the top of the list, of course, is Vice President Kamala Harris, whose status as Biden’s running mate might make her an easier candidate for delegates to turn to in tough times. But Democratic governors and other names are also commonly mentioned.
Changing candidates would likely mean Biden dropping out of the race, something his campaign says he won’t do. And the risk is real. Some of the most high-profile replacements below have never survived the vetting and road tests of a presidential campaign. There are plenty of candidates who looked great on paper but ran out of steam on the campaign trail.
“It’s easier said than done,” said former California senator Barbara Boxer. “Veterinary testing of presidential candidates is very different from other vetting. We don’t know what the candidates are going to do.”
Some of the candidates being discussed are listed below.
Kamala Harris
Harris, a former prosecutor and California senator, has sometimes struggled to define her role alongside Biden. Initially tasked with tackling divisive and tough issues like illegal immigration and voting rights, she was seen by Democratic donors and Biden supporters as a potential political liability. Those concerns have eased, but her low approval rating — just slightly above the president’s — continues to hamper her.
Still, Harris has been campaigning for months as the president’s main campaign surrogate. She has recently taken a leading role in the White House as an abortion rights advocate, meeting with abortion providers at a clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, in March in what was believed to be the first time a president or vice president has visited an abortion clinic. And as the nation’s first Black vice president, Harris has sought to shore up Biden’s weakness with Black and younger voters.
Democrats have long been concerned about how Harris would handle Trump, but in recent months she has stepped up her attacks on the former president, particularly on the issue of abortion, in an effort to demonstrate she is capable of standing up to Trump.
Gavin Newsom
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor and two-term lieutenant governor, has become one of Biden’s main surrogates in the campaign.
He was the first to defend Biden’s performance in Atlanta. He has a clear advantage: He’s a seasoned campaigner from a big state who has used his platform in Sacramento and his national TV appearances to make the case for Democrats against Trump. He hasn’t expressed any reservations about Biden, but he was on the sidelines in case Biden somehow didn’t end up on the short list and was openly considering a 2028 run anyway.
But California. First, Newsom will be held accountable for California’s problems of the past decade: homelessness, high taxes, soaring housing costs. He probably can’t get away with attending an expensive birthday dinner with lobbyists at the French Laundry in 2021.
That said, if Biden decides to end his campaign, Newsom could benefit from a shortened campaign period, giving his opponents less time to explore and highlight potential flaws.
Gretchen Whitmer
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has quickly emerged as a national star in the Democratic Party, in part due to President Trump’s antagonism towards her, calling her “that woman from Michigan.” The two-term governor led a 2022 campaign to give Democrats in the battleground state their first separation of powers in 40 years: full control of the Legislature and state government.
She has used her power to implement a series of progressive policies, and her national profile has soared during the pandemic despite criticism from right-wing media and Republicans over her lockdown measures. She also serves as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, a top leadership position in the party.
For all these reasons and more, she is high on nearly every Democrat’s list of potential 2028 candidates and has recently voiced ambitions for a post-Biden presidency. Most importantly, she comes from a favorable battleground state; she was re-elected in 2022 with over 54% of the vote.
JB Pritzker
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, has stood out as a Biden surrogate for his scathing insults against Trump. When the former president was convicted in a New York criminal trial, Pritzker strayed from the carefully worded talking points of most Democrats and blasted the former president as a felon, racist, homophobe and con man.
Pritzker, who has campaigned for Biden across the Midwest and has been praised for his fiery style and scathing attacks on Trump, also had a progressive record during his two terms as governor, scoring notable victories on abortion rights and gun control and steering the state Democratic Party away from its traditional left-of-center politics.
Josh Shapiro
Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is known as a cautious leader who emphasized bipartisanship and focused primarily on non-ideological issues during his time in office.
Shapiro, who would win the 2022 governor’s election, had an approval rating of 64% in a recent survey, while only 19% of registered voters in key battleground states disapproved of him. By contrast, 41% of those surveyed said they would vote for Biden in November’s presidential election.
Shapiro speaks frequently about his Jewish faith and has entered into a fierce feud within the Democratic Party over pro-Palestinian student protests, but he has fervently defended his support for Israel and condemned some of the recent demonstrations as anti-Semitic.
But the most important thing to know about Shapiro is that he’s the governor of Pennsylvania. And if there’s one must-win state for any Democratic challenger to Trump, it’s Pennsylvania. Shapiro beat Republican challenger Doug Mastriano in the 2022 presidential election by 56% of the vote, a number that will surely be a top priority for Democratic delegates making these kinds of decisions.
Other possibilities
This list is not exhaustive. There are all kinds of possibilities for what kind of chaos could be caused at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago if Biden were to withdraw. Common examples include Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. All three have run for president before and are familiar faces to Democratic supporters.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who is up for reelection in 2023, has also attracted national attention for his surprise success as a Democrat in a Republican-leaning state where Biden is deeply unpopular. While other Democratic candidates lost by large margins in the statewide election, Beshear defeated Republican opponent Daniel Cameron by five points.
And finally, there are two people who have already lived in the White House: Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. Though former President Barack Obama still enjoys fairly high approval ratings among registered voters, constitutional term limits bar him from running for a third term.
