President Joe Biden has ended his campaign for president, vacating his spot at the top of the Democratic ticket and opening the way for an alternative candidate to step in and run against former President Donald Trump in November.
Democrats have spent weeks speculating about alternatives to Biden. At the top of that list is Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden has endorsed as his successor. She also may keep the tens of millions of dollars in donations held by the joint Biden-Harris campaign committee if chosen as the nominee.
But Biden cannot simply transfer the nomination to his running mate. Now that he has dropped out of the race, the 3,937 Democratic delegates selected for the convention are essentially free agents.
“It’s not as easy as it sounds,” said former Sen. Barbara Boxer of California. “Being vetted for president is like no other vetting. We don’t know how these people would do.”
Here are a few of the contenders whose names have been discussed:
Kamala Harris
Harris, a former prosecutor and senator from California, has at times struggled to define her role at Biden’s side. Initially charged with addressing polarizing and intractable issues like illegal migration and voting rights, she has been viewed by Democratic donors and supporters of Biden as a potential political liability. Though those concerns have eased, she has been weighed down by low approval ratings that are barely higher than the president’s.
Still, Harris for months stumped for the president as one of his main campaign surrogates. She has recently become the White House’s lead voice as a defender of abortion rights. In March, she met with abortion providers at a clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, in what is believed to be the first visit by a president or vice president to an abortion clinic. And Harris, the nation’s first Black vice president, worked to shore up Biden’s vulnerabilities with Black and young voters.
Democrats have long worried about how she might fare against Trump. But Harris, who was heavily scrutinized in the immediate aftermath of Biden’s poor debate performance, sharpened her attacks against the former president in an effort to prove she could hold her own against him. And even as Biden fought to stay atop the ticket after the debate, the Biden campaign quietly surveyed Harris’ strength against Trump to measure how she would perform in place of Biden.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom makes a gesture as he speaks during a news conference at San Bernardino Unified School District Office after visiting Juanita B. Jones Elementary School in San Bernardino on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Gavin Newsom
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, the former mayor of San Francisco who also previously served two terms as lieutenant governor, became one of Biden’s main surrogates during this campaign — and was one of his fiercest defenders as Biden fought to survive the effort to push him aside.
Newsom has repeatedly said that he would not challenge Harris if she sought the nomination. But many presidential candidates have made similar assurances before running anyway, and Newsom would most likely bring some clear benefits to the ticket: He is an accomplished campaigner from a big state who has used his platform in Sacramento — and appearances on national television — to make the case against Trump and for the Democratic Party. He is, in any event, openly considering running in 2028.
But — California. For one thing, Newsom would be saddled with explaining the problems California has had over the past decade: homelessness, high taxes, escalating housing costs. He will probably never be able to escape his decision in 2021 to attend a high-priced birthday dinner with lobbyists at the high-end restaurant the French Laundry.
FILE – In this Jan. 29, 2020, file photo, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivers her State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate, at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Al Goldis, File)
Gretchen Whitmer
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan has risen quickly as a national star of the Democratic Party, helped in part by Trump’s antagonizing her as “that woman from Michigan.” A two-term governor, Whitmer led a 2022 campaign that gave Democrats in the battleground state a trifecta — exercising full control of the Legislature and state government — for the first time in 40 years.
She has used that mandate to enact a laundry list of progressive policies. Her national profile also soared during the coronavirus pandemic, when she was vilified by right-wing media and Republican officials for her lockdown measures. And Whitmer is a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, a top leadership position in the national party.
Like Newsom, Whitmer vigorously defended Biden during this crisis, and made many strenuous reassurances that she would not run even if Biden stepped aside.
Still, she has been near the top of nearly every Democrat’s list of strong candidates for 2028, and she has nodded to her post-Biden presidential ambitions. Most important for the delegates considering her, she comes from a swing state that likes her: She won reelection with more than 54% of the vote in 2022.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, seen earlier in July, is one of the names mentioned as a possible candidate for the Democratic presidential ticket in November. (File photo by Evan Vucci, The Associated Press)
J.B. Pritzker
Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, has stood out as a Biden surrogate for his knife-twisting insults against Trump. When the former president was convicted in his New York criminal trial, Pritzker broke from the carefully worded talking points of most Democrats and hammered the former president as a felon, a racist, a homophobe and a grifter.
That fiery demeanor and his caustic attacks against Trump have earned Pritzker applause as he has stumped for Biden across the Midwest. He also has a significant progressive record as a two-term governor, scoring notable victories on abortion rights and gun control, and he has shifted the state Democratic Party far from its traditionally center-left politics.
Another obvious advantage for Pritzker is his enormous wealth. Estimated at around $3.5 billion, Pritzker’s fortune makes him America’s wealthiest elected official, and he is not shy about using those funds on his political ambitions. Campaign records show he spent a total of $350 million on his two campaigns for governor.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, speaking at a Biden campaign event in April, is among those discussed for a space on the Democratic presidential ticket. (File photo by Matt Rourke, The Associated Press)
Josh Shapiro
Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, the former attorney general of the state, is known as a measured leader who has emphasized bipartisanship and largely focused on nonideological issues during his term in office.
Shapiro, who won the governor’s mansion in 2022, had a job approval rating of 64% in a recent survey, with just 19% of registered voters in the key battleground state saying they disapproved. In contrast, 41% of those surveyed said they would vote for Biden in November.
Shapiro often talks about his Jewish faith and has plunged into a fierce divide in the Democratic Party over pro-Palestinian student protests, passionately defending his support for Israel and denouncing some of the recent demonstrations as antisemitic.
But this is the most important thing to know about Shapiro: He is the governor of Pennsylvania. And if there is such a thing as a must-win state for any Democratic challenger to Trump, Pennsylvania is it. Shapiro defeated his Republican opponent in 2022, Doug Mastriano, with 56% of the vote, a figure that is sure to be top of mind for Democratic delegates making this kind of decision.
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Other Possibilities
This list is not exhaustive; the kind of chaos that could be unspooled at the Democrats’ convention in Chicago now that Biden has withdrawn allows for all kinds of possibilities. Among the conventional ones: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. All three have run for president before and are familiar to Democratic voters.
Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, who won reelection in 2023, has also gained national attention for his unlikely success as a Democrat in a red state where Biden is deeply unpopular. Beshear defeated his Republican opponent, Daniel Cameron, by 5 points, even as other Democratic candidates in statewide races lost by overwhelming margins.
In an interview on CNN in early July, Beshear said he was flattered that his name was being floated, but, he added, “President Biden is our nominee, and I don’t want to speculate.”
And finally, two people who have already lived in the White House: Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. Former President Barack Obama, while still polling fairly high among registered voters, is barred by constitutional term limits from running for a third term.