The list of Democratic politicians urging President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race continues to grow, joining a handful of celebrities, media personalities and donors who are calling for a new name to be put at the top of the shortlist.
As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, 21 Democrats, including one Democratic senator and 20 Democratic representatives, have publicly stated their preference for the presumptive Democratic nominee not to run for reelection.
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The calls began coming in after Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate with Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump. Biden tried to do damage control last week with two prime-time interviews with major news anchors and an evening press conference, but the 81-year-old continues to face intense scrutiny about his age and fitness to serve as president. He has repeatedly stressed that he will continue to campaign.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say Biden should step aside and let the party nominate another candidate, according to a new poll released Wednesday from the AP-NORC Center for Public Policy Research.
Here is a list of current lawmakers who are calling for Biden to step down:
- Senator Peter Welch (D-VT)
- Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ)
- Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
- Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)
- Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.)
- Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.)
- Rep. Brittany Pettersen, Democrat of Colorado;
- Rep. Jim Himes (Democrat, Connecticut)
- Congressman Ed Case (D-Hawaii)
- Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL)
- Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL)
- Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)
- Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts)
- Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich.
- Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN)
- Rep. Miki Sherrill (DN.J.)
- Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY)
- Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon)
- Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
- Congressman Adam Smith (Democrat, Washington).
- Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez (D-Wash.).
New York Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado said last week that Biden should end his campaign and make way for new leadership.
Several former lawmakers, including former Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, have also called for the president to step down.
Kathryn Palmer is an elections fellow at USA TODAY. She can be reached at kapalmer@gannett.com or on X: @KathrynPlmr.
