Beshear in the race for VP position if Biden withdraws from 2024 race

Could Governor Andy Beshear trade his seat in Frankfort for a seat in Washington DC?

That’s a possibility now being discussed as more Democrats on Capitol Hill are calling for President Biden to withdraw from the race for the White House.

On Friday, Biden’s campaign manager confirmed that the president remains in the race and plans to return to the campaign trail next week. Despite this, more than 30 congressional Democrats have formally expressed their desire for Biden to withdraw his reelection bid.

Should Biden withdraw — a decision some still expect to be announced as early as this weekend — Vice President Kamala Harris is seen as the favorite to replace him. And if that happens, she would have to pick her running mate.

That’s where Beshear comes in.

The 46-year-old has been the Bluegrass State’s leader since 2019, defeating former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and winning re-election in 2023.

That ability to retain executive power in an overwhelmingly red state has likely boosted his standing in speculative rankings, said Shauna Reilly, a political science professor at NKU.

“His appeal to moderates probably,” she said. “A Democrat from the South is not a Democrat that we would see from California, like Vice President Harris.”

Beshear’s policies are similar to Harris’s, but not as progressive. According to Reilly, this could provide balance to the Democratic slate.

“You would see some moderation in those cases where voters who are perhaps a little concerned about the left-wing portion of that ticket would be safeguarded,” she said.

We asked Reilly how likely it is that Beshear will join the Democratic ticket. She said he is far from a sure thing, but she understands why he is in the race.

“There are two others that make a little bit more sense electorally. If you think about where Biden is losing numbers — so we see North Carolina down by four points, Michigan down by four points, Pennsylvania down by four points. Arizona — although I don’t think Biden would win Arizona by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s got a negative number — so if we think about the other people that are being proposed, they all come from those states,” Reilly said. “Those people all bring different pieces. Now, they don’t necessarily have the same charisma or the same record as Beshear and all the other things that Beshear does, but we just think about the trade-offs between those.”

In an interview with LINK nky content sharing partner WCPO on Friday, Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman said Beshear would be a promising vice presidential candidate.

“Andy is a truly wonderful human being. He’s incredibly kind — and that’s something we need right now, that kind of kind, caring, compassionate leader who is also very strong and just does his job,” Landsman said. “He’s a perfect example in many ways of the kind of leaders that many of us look for and I strive to be.”

Landsman also endorsed several other Democratic leaders, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who served as Biden’s infrastructure czar before joining the president’s campaign.

Landsman didn’t want to speculate too much about possible vice presidential candidates, but did indicate that he thinks Harris is the right person to take over from Biden as president.

“She will get young people excited and she is also a former prosecutor, so she can really explain where the country needs to go and why Donald Trump is unfit to be president,” Landsman said.

Landsman is among the Democrats in Congress calling for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. He said he came to the decision after hundreds of conversations with voters and weeks of deliberation.

“I have respect for Joe Biden. He saved our democracy in 2020. He cares deeply about our country, he cares deeply about our democracy, he cares deeply about freedom, and he cares deeply about working people,” Landsman said in a statement. “But the question before us is about the future of the country. We cannot allow Donald Trump and the rise of fascism and authoritarianism to take root in America… it is time for President Biden to step aside and allow us to nominate a new leader who can reliably and consistently make the case against Donald Trump and make the case for America’s future.”

Hours after Landsman called for change on Friday, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown also called on Biden to withdraw.

Brown said in a statement that many of his constituents have reached out to him about the important issues in this year’s election.

“I agree with the many Ohioans who have reached out to me. At this critical time, we need to refocus our full attention on these important issues. I believe the president should end his campaign,” he said.

The formal and official announcement of the Democratic presidential nominee will be made at the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Chicago starting on August 19.

During the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, former President Donald Trump officially accepted his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate and chose 39-year-old Middletown native J.D. Vance as his running mate.

The story first appeared on WCPO.