The Democratic Party is in search of a new presidential candidate following US President Joe Biden’s Saturday announcement that he will not seek re-election. Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, while former President Barack Obama has urged the party to establish a process to identify an “outstanding nominee.”
Kamala Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris has received Biden’s endorsement. Biden praised her as “an extraordinary partner” in a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “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.” NBC News reported that the Biden campaign had been “quietly assessing the viability of Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy against Donald Trump in a new head-to-head poll.”
Harris, 59, is the first woman to serve as vice president, marking the peak of a career filled with firsts and breakthroughs. Born in Oakland to immigrant parents, Harris’s father is a distinguished economist from Jamaica, and her mother was a cancer researcher from India. Harris’s career trajectory includes roles as a local prosecutor, California’s state attorney general, and U.S. senator before becoming Biden’s running mate in 2020.
Despite her high name recognition and the highest polling among potential Democratic candidates, Harris faces challenges. A recent poll indicated a 29% favourability rating, with 49% viewing her unfavourably and 22% having no opinion or being unaware of her.
JB Pritzker
JB Pritzker, the 59-year-old governor of Illinois, is among the wealthiest potential candidates. He has highlighted his achievements, including codifying the right to abortion in Illinois and declaring it a “sanctuary state” for women seeking abortions. Pritzker has also been a strong advocate for gun control and legalised recreational marijuana.
Gretchen Whitmer
Gretchen Whitmer has rapidly ascended within the Democratic Party, from law school graduate to Michigan’s governor. Her prominence was cemented in 2022 with a decisive re-election and the Democratic Party’s control of both state legislative chambers for the first time in nearly four decades.
Whitmer, 52, has focused on abortion access as co-chair of the Biden campaign, asserting Biden’s alignment with the issue despite his recent debate performance. She attributes political hatred, fueled by Trump, as the motive behind a 2020 plot to kidnap and kill her, which was foiled by the FBI. However, Whitmer has stated definitively that she will not run for president this year.
Joe Manchin
Joe Manchin, the centre-right senator from West Virginia, has long considered a run for the Democratic nomination. Serving in the Senate since 2010 and chairing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Manchin has been a vocal critic of the Democratic Party. Last year, facing a tough re-election race, he announced he would not seek another Senate term and registered as an independent. Recent reports suggest he is contemplating re-registering as a Democrat and challenging Harris.
Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama, widely popular during her tenure as First Lady, has long been a favourite among some Democrats for a presidential run. An Ipsos poll found she is the only hypothetical candidate who would definitively defeat Trump head-to-head and she enjoys high favourability among registered voters.
Despite this, Michelle Obama has consistently expressed no interest in running for office. Earlier this year, her office told NBC News she was not planning to run in 2024. In a discussion with Oprah Winfrey, she reflected on why she would likely never enter politics, stating, “Politics is hard. And the people who get into it… you’ve got to want it. It’s got to be in your soul because it is so important. It is not in my soul.”
