Speculation continues if President Joe Biden will be the Democrat nominee in 2024, including many prominent Democrats apparently. It has been noted that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom and even Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker are all licking their chops about the prospect of being able to jump into the race.
It’s not clear when Democrats are going to make the decision to replace Biden if they do it at all. They could probably wait all the way up to their national convention if they wanted to.
Axios reports:
Democratic governors and senators are quietly moving to boost their national profiles and position themselves to run for president in 2028 — or in 2024, if President Biden unexpectedly drops out.
Why it matters: The ambitious, next-generation Democrats all support Biden’s re-election — but they’re drawing battle lines for the next race for the White House.
- The early jockeying is also a hedge against Biden, 80, having a health scare or deciding not to run for re-election before the Democratic National Convention next August, several high-ranking Democratic officials tell Axios.
What we’re watching: In recent months, more than half a dozen Democratic lawmakers have established national political organizations, embarked on resume-building foreign trips, and visited states that traditionally hold early presidential primaries.
- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and California Rep. Ro Khanna have traveled to New Hampshire in recent months — and Khanna returned this week to debate GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker — who ran for president in 2020 — already has $10 million cash on hand for a 2026 Senate re-election bid that he could transfer to a 2024 presidential campaign.
- Booker will headline a panel in South Carolina on health care and abortion rights on Nov. 18, and is involved in the Charleston mayoral race, in which his former aide Clay Middleton is a candidate.
