HARPER WOODS, Michigan — After weeks of uncertainty over who would top the Democratic Party ticket in November, many voters expressed relief at the news that President Joe Biden would abandon his re-election bid and began thinking about who could replace him in the drastically changed electoral landscape.
Jerod Keene, a 40-year-old athletic trainer from the swing state of Arizona, had planned to vote for Biden in November but was grateful for the president’s decision, calling it “inevitable.” Keene said he is excited about the next nominee, hoping it will be vice president. Kamala Harriswho supported Biden on Sunday.
“Kamala Harris is the easiest choice, based on the fact that she’s vice president and it would be difficult for the party to go in a different direction,” said Keene, who lives in Tucson. “And I think she seems ready for it.”
The Democratic Party is deeply divided since Bidens bad debate performance on June 27, leaving many doubting his ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November and secure a new term. Party leaders increasingly called on Biden to step aside, but his reluctance to step down left voters across the country uncertain about who would run against Trump in November.
Recent AP-NORC Poll revealed that nearly two-thirds of Democrats believed Biden should withdraw from the presidential race, while a majority believes Harris would do well in the top position.
Keene’s relief that the saga surrounding Biden’s decision was over was echoed by voters across the country in interviews with The Associated Press. In key swing states including Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada, many expressed optimism about the party’s next nominee — whether it’s Harris or someone else.
In Pittsburgh, Fred Johnston said he was terrified of another Trump presidency and had long worried that Biden would not be able to beat Trump again. After watching Biden’s shaky debate performance, he wanted Biden to withdraw and hand his candidacy to Harris.
“Kamala is someone we can vote for, and that’s what we need,” Johnston said.
He also thinks she can win Pennsylvania: “I don’t have any logical basis for this, but it’s good to have hope. I haven’t had hope in a while.”
In Las Vegas, Lucy Ouano, 68, said she was proud of Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race and his quick endorsement of Harris.
“He’s ending on a great note,” Ouano said. “Trump should be worried. He’s up against someone strong now.”
Ouano, who emigrated to the U.S. from Thailand as a young child with her parents in 1960, said she could not have imagined this outcome a few weeks ago when she attended a Harris rally in Las Vegas to assuage concerns about Biden’s re-election campaign.
She told the AP at the time that she planned to vote for Biden but wanted Harris to be at the top of the ticket.
“She’s going to incite the Asians, and she’s going to incite the women,” Oaano said Sunday after learning of Biden’s decision.
Similarly, Arthur L. Downard Jr., a 72-year-old resident of Portland, Oregon, viewed Biden’s presidency favorably but said he was “very pleased” to see Biden step aside. The Democratic voter, who cast his ballot for Biden in 2020, said his opinion of Biden changed after what he called a “disastrous” debate.
“He’s been a great president and he’s done a lot for our country. But he’s too old, he’s not articulate,” he said. “He’s not a good messenger for the Democratic Party.”
Some voters, like Nebraska resident Lacey LeGrand, were reluctant to vote for Biden simply because he wasn’t Trump.
“I absolutely do not support Trump,” LeGrand said. “So I think by default I would support Biden. I was not very happy about it.”
LeGrand, a registered Democrat in Nebraska’s swing district, a potentially decisive constituency that Biden and Obama both previously won, believes Harris has “a chance” of beating Trump, though she added, “I wouldn’t say it’s a big chance.”
But not all voters were happy with Sunday’s news. Georgia voter Dorothy Redhead, 76, was “disappointed” that Biden was dropping out of the race, but said she “just has to accept” Biden’s decision as one between the president and God.
Jarvia Haynes, a real estate agent in New Orleans, said she has “mixed feelings” about Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race.
“I don’t think President Biden should have dropped out,” she said. “On the other hand, it may be for the best.”
Haynes, 72, of Harvey, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, quickly turned her attention to who should lead the Democratic ticket, saying she is “very positive that Vice President Kamala Harris can do the job.”
She added that she hopes Harris will choose Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer as her running mate.
“I think two women would change the whole dynamic of the race,” said Haynes, who joins Harris as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first intercollegiate historically African-American sorority. The group has more than 360,000 members in graduate and undergraduate chapters in 12 countries and could be a formidable political force in its own right.
Barbara Orr, a psychotherapist in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, area, said she believed Biden had the ability to run for president, defeat Trump and serve as president. But she saw his decision to end his candidacy as a sign that he is not driven by ego and acknowledged that voters, based on his debate performance, assume he can’t do the job.
Orr, 65, said she’s not “super impressed” with Harris, “but she could rise to the occasion. It’s happened before in history.”
She also acknowledged that Harris has not had the opportunity to prove her qualities as a candidate against Trump.
Orr, a self-described progressive who has favored either Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont or Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts for president in 2020, said she would likely favor Whitmer as Biden’s replacement on the Democratic ticket.
“I love what she stands for,” Orr said.
Joe DeFrain was kayaking when he got a text message saying Biden had dropped out. While the Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, resident said he wasn’t shocked to hear about the development, one thing did surprise him.
“I was waiting to see if all the boaters out there were going to scream with joy, because a lot of them are Trump fans. And I didn’t hear anything,” DeFrain said after dining at They Say, a restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods.
Biden visited They Say earlier this year, a moment manager George Ledbetter described as “the best thing ever.”
Ledbetters’ initial reaction to the news was one word: “Why?”
“He’s a good president. I like Biden,” Ledbetter said. But, he added, “You have to do what you have to do.”
Ledbetter said he will support Harris despite his disappointment.
“I’ll take that too. I think she can do it. First female president. That would be nice. African-American president. That would be nice,” said Ledbetter, who is black.
DeFrain said he will continue to watch what happens before and during the Democratic National Convention.
“It’s going to be something we’ve never seen in our lifetimes,” said DeFrain, who voted Democratic in recent elections. “It should be entertaining.”
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Cappelletti reported from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Householder from Harper Woods, Michigan, and Kramon from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Rio Yamat in Las Vegas, Nevada; Chevel Johnson in New Orleans, Louisiana; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon contributed to this report.
