A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted this month found that 70% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said they would be “satisfied” if Biden dropped out and Harris became the Democratic nominee.
In the same poll, 29% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in an open-ended question named Harris as their party’s candidate if Biden dropped out, while 7% named California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), 4% named former first lady Michelle Obama, and 3% named Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D). Half of Democrats did not name anyone in particular as a possible replacement for Biden.
In early July, The Economist and YouGov polled Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents about who could replace Biden, and Harris received the highest net support among Democrats surveyed.
Disapproval ratings for other candidates like Whitmer and Newsom were similarly low, but significantly larger shares of Democrats did not know about them.
Besides Biden, many other prominent Democrats have already endorsed Harris, but before she can become the party’s nominee, she must be selected by Democratic delegates. You can find out more about that process here.
Scott Clement and Ruben Fischer Baum contributed to this report.
