After weeks of mounting pressure following a heavily scrutinized debate performance in June, Democratic President Joe Biden on Sunday dropped out of the 2024 presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place on the ticket.
From Vermont, U.S. Rep. Becca Balint was among the swiftest to throw her support behind Harris in an endorsement Sunday afternoon.
Balint is one of Vermont Democrats’ automatic delegates, ready to cast a presidential nominating ballot at the Democratic National Convention next month.
In her statement, Balint wrote that Harris “has been an exceptional partner in the battle for dignity for working families, for reproductive freedoms and fighting corporate greed.”
“Through her leadership, we will be able to build on the President’s legacy and get the job done,” Balint said, adding that, “it’s time for all of us to get to work and secure Kamala Harris in the White House.”
Other members of Vermont’s congressional delegation took a more cautious approach on Sunday, as the Democratic Party navigates the unprecedented situation of filling an empty nomination just four weeks before its convention.
On a Sunday appearance on CBS News, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., declined to endorse Harris, saying he hopes to see an open, “truncated” nomination contest play out at the DNC. While he said he believes Harris will still prevail as the nominee “in all likelihood,” Welch said that an open race would strengthen the campaign of the party’s ultimate pick.
“It’s really important for us as Democrats to take advantage of the extraordinary energy that’s been unleashed by the President’s decision to step aside, and show that we’re confident about engaging everyday Democrats to participate in this,” Welch said.
Welch was the first Democratic U.S. senator who called on Biden to withdraw from the race “for the good of the country.”
Just days before he made that call, Welch told VTDigger in an interview that Biden’s June 27 debate performance raised questions over the 81-year-old president’s age, and that American voters were “not going to unsee what they saw.”
In a written statement Sunday, Vermont’s junior senator commended Biden’s decision to step down as “a difficult and selfless choice” that “put our democracy and the future of our nation ahead of himself.”
Now, with Biden out of the race, Welch said the Democratic Party has “a deep bench of leaders who will carry on the Biden legacy and inspire the voters we need to deliver the White House.” Harris, he said, is “among” those capable of beating Trump, he said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had in recent weeks been among Biden’s most vocal supporters as pressure mounted for him to step down. Come Sunday, Sanders publicly thanked Biden for having “served our country with honor and dignity,” but evaded the question of his replacement.
“As the first president to ever walk on a picket line with striking workers, he has been the most pro-working class president in modern American history,” Sanders wrote in a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “Thank you, Mr. President, for all you’ve done.”
The Vermont Democratic Party, too, steered away from the question of Biden’s replacement on the ticket in a Sunday afternoon statement. “On behalf of all Vermont Democrats, I want to thank President Biden for his service, his sacrifice, and his judgment,” Vermont Democratic Party Chair David Glidden said. “We look forward to continuing his work to protect democracy for regular Americans. While his decision could not have been an easy one, President Biden has always been someone who put his country first.”