President Joe Biden announced that he will no longer be seeking reelection via social media July 21.
Biden was originally expected to be announced as the Democratic nominee for president during the 2024 Democratic National Convention August 19-22. With President Biden’s recent announcement, the 3,896 delegates won by Biden will now need to be won by a new candidate. One potential candidate for the Democratic nomination is President Biden’s 2020 running mate and Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden has given his endorsement.
According to the New York Times, Harris appears to outperform either Biden or Trump in swing states like Pennsylvania and Virginia. In Pennsylvania, polls show Trump with a 3% lead over Biden, whereas Trump’s lead shrinks to only 1% over Harris. In Virginia, polls show Biden with a 3% lead over Trump, while this lead increases to a 5% democratic lead with Harris.
A reliably blue state that has voted for the democratic nominee in every presidential election since 1988, Washington and its 12 electoral votes were won by Biden in 2020. Democrats also won Whitman County in 2020 with 53.3% of the vote and in 2016 with 45.5% of the vote, flipping the county that voted 50.2% Republican in 2012, according to Politico.
Home to Washington State University’s Pullman campus, Whitman County’s increasingly blue alignment follows the trend of two in three college counties growing increasingly democratic in the United States, according to Politico.
In 2020, Biden also won Idaho’s Latah County, home to University of Idaho, with 49.8% of the vote, according to Politico. Despite Biden outperforming Trump in Latah County, Idaho is a solid Republican stronghold, with Trump winning Idaho with 63.9% of the vote in 2020, according to Politico.
According to Politico, Democrats tend to dominate college counties due to a “Democratic voter profile,” which is defined as those who are conscious about the environment, concerned with the climate and are generally college-educated.
Washington’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention will meet discuss endorsing Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee Thursday, according to Washington State Standard.
