With Biden out of presidential race, Kamala Harris emerges as front-runner with his endorsement

President Joe Biden said Sunday he would not seek a second term and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.

Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden said in a tweet on X.

Harris, 59, could make her own history, as the first Black and Asian American woman ever to head a major party ticket.

The former California attorney general and U.S. senator still needs to be formally nominated by the Democratic convention, which begins August 19. Democratic insiders have strongly suggested for weeks that she’d have little trouble getting the nod.

She would replace Biden, 81, who became the first incumbent president since Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to decline to run for another term.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” he said in an open letter released just before 11 a.m. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a statement on X, praised Biden shortly after the announcement.

“President Biden has been an extraordinary, history-making president — a leader who has fought hard for working people and delivered astonishing results for all Americans. He will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents.”

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump blasted Biden after the president’s announcement. “Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for president and is certainly not fit to serve—and never was,” Trump said his Truth Social site.

Harris as nominee?

As Biden stumbled, top Democrats as well as voters signaled that Harris was the logical successor. Some of her biggest potential challengers, notably Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, said they did not intend to run this year.

The feeling among many Democratic officeholders is that the election is in many ways a referendum on the job the Biden administration has done the past four years, and Harris has earned a role as the chief defender of that record..

“I think she has the experience, the judgment, the leadership ability to be an extraordinary president,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” recently before Biden left the race..

“Absolutely,” said Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., when asked recently if Harris would be his choice if Biden stepped down.

Seven members of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee sent a letter to Democratic Chairman Jaime Harrison July 12 urging the selection of Harris if Biden stepped down.

What does this mean for CA congressional races?

The consequences of Biden’s decision for California’s congressional delegation could be enormous. Democrats need a net gain of five seats to win a majority in the House of Representatives, and four California seats are considered toss-ups by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Biden helped Democrats in 2020, trouncing Trump 63.5% to 34.3%. Polls taken before last month’s presidential debate showed him still winning big, but by a smaller margin. The Public Policy Institute of California survey taken May 23-June 2 had Biden up 55% to 31%.

Rep. John Duarte, R-Modesto, is running against former Assemblyman Adam Gray, a Merced Democrat. Duarte narrowly beat Gray two years ago.

Another rematch pits Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, against former Assemblyman Rudy Salas, who nearly won in 2022.

Also in play are seats now held by Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, and Mike Garcia, R-Palmdale..

One way Harris could be an asset for Democrats is that she knows California. She was elected attorney general in 2010 and 2014, and easily won a U.S. Senate seat in 2016.

The fall of Biden

Biden’s political momentum with Democrats began to ebb after his disastrous June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump.

He tried to regain political stature, with campaign appearances, vigorous support from Congressional Black Caucus members and a nationally televised interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos July 5..

But when Congress returned to Washington July 8, a steady trickle of Democratic House members saying he should step aside began.

Two days later came crushing blows.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, whose opinion carries enormous weight with Democrats, would not give Biden strong backing during an appearance July 10 on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Instead, she said, “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short,”

The same morning, actor George Clooney, who in June co-hosted a massive fundraiser for Biden in Los Angeles, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times headlined “I love Joe Biden. But we need a new nominee.”

Adding to the drama was how former President Barack Obama may have been lurking behind Clooney’s effort. Reports said that Clooney made Obama aware of his op-ed, and Obama did not try to stop him from publishing.

Biden tried an unscripted news conference July 11 that ran almost an hour. Even as he showed a mastery of foreign policy, he also referred to “Vice President Trump.”

Harris, meanwhile, had been on the campaign trail, giving energized speeches tearing into Trump. Some polls showed her in a virtual tie with Trump, running slightly better than Biden.

Perhaps most comforting for Democrats is her favorability rating — which while still a low 40% in latest Reuters/Ipsos July 1-2 poll — was slightly ahead of both Biden, who polled 38%, and within range of Trump at 42%.

Chris Jackson, Ipsos senior vice president, said the country is divided, and the winner will be whoever wins the undecided. Harris will probably get a fresh look: The poll found 60% of independent voters thought Biden should drop out.