One of the top options to replace Biden publicly bows out
Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images
- Gretchen Whitmer vowed she won't run if Joe Biden exits the race.
- Whitmer has repeatedly backed the president and his 2024 run.
- Leaked polling shows Whitmer is popular among Democrats and outperforms Biden.
Since Joe Biden's awful debate performance, Democrats and voters alike have been speculating who could potentially replace him in the race.
But one of the top options, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, says not to count her in.
The two-term Democratic governor told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of the launch of her new book, "True Gretch," that she would not join the 2024 race if Biden stepped down.
"It's a distraction more than anything," Whitmer told the AP in a story published Monday. "I don't like seeing my name in articles like that because I'm totally focused on governing and campaigning for the ticket."
Whitmer, the national cochair of Biden's reelection campaign, has repeatedly reiterated her support of the president.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Whitmer wrote last week that she is "all in" on Biden and VP Kamala Harris, adding: "Help me elect Democrats up and down the ticket."
"Joe Biden is our nominee," she wrote in a follow-up post. "He is in it to win it and I support him."
Whitmer was also part of a coalition of 24 Democratic governors who met with Biden on Wednesday to discuss the fallout from his debate performance and his path to victory, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Though Whitmer says she will not replace Biden on the ticket, she might have a decent chance if she did, according to an internal Democratic polling memo leaked to Puck News.
The polling memo, conducted by OpenLabs 72 hours after the debate, shows that Whitmer was polling just behind Pete Buttigieg among voters in swing states. Biden was ranked last among the five options, and Harris second-to-last, according to the leaked poll.
While some polls show Biden losing ground since the debate, a new Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll showed Biden still polling ahead of Trump in Michigan — a must-win for the incumbent this November — and narrowing Trump's lead in other key swing states.
As for Whitmer's presidential prospects, she has for years said she doesn't want to ever run for president.
For example, she told the Free Press in 2022, "The lure of Washington, DC has not been something that has ever drawn my interest or attention."
But lately, she's been changing her tune. In a speech to hundreds of fellow politicians at a Washington event in March, Whitmer said, "See you in 2029," hinting at a potential 2028 run, The Washington Post reported.