Candidates Most Likely to Replace Joe Biden: Kamala Harris Tops List

US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he will end his bid for re-election in 2024 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic Party nominee, saying it was “in the best interest of my party and the country”.

The 81-year-old president will make his decision four months before Americans go to the polls on November 5.

Biden’s decision offers Harris the opportunity to make history, as her election as vice president is also seen as a recognition of the crucial role that black women have played in the Democrats’ victories.

Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney, was elected in 2010 as the first Black woman to serve as California’s attorney general. Her election to the U.S. Senate in 2016 made her only the second Black woman in the chamber’s history.

After Biden decided to step down as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, here are some of the leading candidates likely to replace Biden.

-Harris was born on October 20, 1964 and is a member of the Democratic Party. He is the 49th and first African-American and the first Asian-American Vice President of the United States.

-She is a graduate of Howard University, the University of California, and Hastings College of the Law.

-Harris was elected California Attorney General in 2010 and served as that state’s junior senator from 2017 to 2021.

-Although Harris had sought the Democratic presidential nomination and had previously withdrawn, she was selected by Biden as his running mate.

Pritzker was born on January 19, 1965, in Palo Alto, California. He is the 43rd Governor of Illinois and belongs to the wealthy Pritzker family, which owns the Hyatt hotel chain.

He graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

An active member of the Democratic Party, he was nominated for governor of Illinois in 2018.

He took office as president on January 14, 2019, after defeating Bruce Rauner of the Republican Party.

Whitmer was born on August 23, 1971, in Lansing, Michigan. He is a member of the Democratic Party and served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and in the Michigan Senate from 2006 to 2015.

She graduated from Forest Hills Central High School, Michigan State University, and the Detroit College of Law.

Whitmer was elected as the 49th governor of Michigan in 2018, after defeating Republican Party leader Bill Scheutte.

Newsom was born on October 10, 1967, is a member of the Democratic Party and is currently the 40th Governor of California.

He graduated from Santa Clara University in 1989 and served as the 42nd mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.

Newsom served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California from 2011 to 2019.

Shapiro was born on June 20, 1973, in Kansas City, Missouri, and served as the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania until 2023.

He attended the University of Rochester and Georgetown University and served on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners from 2012 to 2017.

Cooper was born on June 13, 1957 in Nashville, Northern California. He is the 75th Governor of Northern California and a member of the Democratic Party.

He graduated from the University of North California at Chapel Hill in 1979 and served as the 49th Attorney General of Northern California from 2001 to 2017.

Beshear was born on November 27, 1977 in Louisville and graduated from Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Kentucky.

From 2016 to 2019, he was elected as the 50th Attorney General of Kentucky and since 2029 he has been the 63rd Governor of Kentucky.

Published July 22, 2024, 11:12 AM IST

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