Houston-area Democrats are hopeful President Joe Biden’s extraordinary Sunday afternoon announcement that he is dropping his re-election bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris will be a boost for the party’s local races in November.
“This is an incredible example of Joe Biden putting the country before person,” Harris County Democratic Chair Mike Doyle said Sunday. “He made a decision that’s incredibly difficult, but it’s the right decision. I think it shows how much as a Democratic president he’s committed to doing the right thing.”
Biden’s announcement came shortly after noon in a letter to the nation posted on social media. The decision made Biden the first president who was not term-limited to drop out of a reelection campaign since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
“It has been the greatest honor in my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
Sunday’s announcement echoed the political turbulence of 1968, coming nearly a month after Biden had a disastrous televised debate that sparked calls from pundits and, increasingly, fellow Democrats to drop out of the race. It also came just over a week after Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump was grazed in the ear from a bullet fired by a would-be-assassin during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Biden faced a chorus of calls to drop out of the race by members of his own party while dealing with a bout of COVID-19 and Trump appeared ascendent at the Republican National Convention and in polling of battle ground states.
It comes within an election cycle framed by both parties’ candidates as a referendum on the country’s survival as a democracy. Trump says he is running to save American democracy, claiming without evidence that Democrats stole the 2020 election and will try to do it again. Democrats say Trump’s rhetoric threatens to destroy voters’ trust in the political process altogether.
Meanwhile, Biden plans a visit to Houston as the city recovers from Hurricane Beryl’s direct hit two weeks ago, Mayor John Whitmire announced Sunday.
The previously unreported trip was announced during an afternoon news conference Whitmire called to defend the city’s response to the hurricane. During the news conference, the mayor said Biden “is going to be here Thursday to recognize our preparation.”
“I think he’s made all of us proud with his public service record,” Whitmire said later in the news conference. “I think he competes with me in spending most of your adult life in public service. I wish him well, but right now my focus is on Houstonians and their recovery.”
Whitmire spokesperson Mary Benton said the city learned of the planned trip on Friday but is “on standby” in light of Sunday’s announcement.
Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said he believes Harris County Democrats could come out ahead amid the turmoil. Jones said for most down-ballot candidates in blue areas like Harris County, there is a much smaller chance of a “red wave” of Republican wins that would have been motivated by voters’ questions over Biden’s age and mental fitness.
At the same time, however, Jones said he believes that more moderate candidates, such as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz challenger Colin Allred, could struggle with Harris at the top of the ticket because she generally is thought of as more progressive than Biden.
“Allred’s campaign has been trying to focus on moving toward the center to convince people who normally vote Republican … to vote Democrat,” Jones said. “That’s going to be tougher to do with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket because Allred’s going to suffer from some guilt by association with the party’s nominee.”
Biden announced his choice for Harris to be his replacement shortly after news of his decision to drop out broke.
Many local Democrats quickly threw their support behind Harris.
“Vice President Harris has proven her strength and effectiveness throughout her career,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo wrote in a statement. “A ruthless and effective litigator, she will present the strongest case for our vision of progress, and will expose (Trump’s) anti-democratic and fraudulent qualities for all to see.”
Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who is running for reelection in November, said support for Harris is necessary to prevent Trump from taking the White House.
“I call on all people that truly care about the future of our republic and our democratic ideals to join me in doing everything possible to help her win this election,” Ellis wrote in a statement.
Despite Biden’s support for Harris, Sunday’s announcement means there will be an open Democratic National Convention Aug. 19-22. Delegates from around the country, including Doyle and 272 others from the state of Texas, will be able to vote for the party’s candidate for the November ballot.
No national Democrat other than Harris had announced their intention to run for the nomination Sunday.
Doyle said there is a process that will play out, and Biden’s decision leaves enough time for the party to choose its nominee. Doyle said he is uncommitted to any candidate at this time.
Texas Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Democrat from Fort Bend County and delegate to the Democratic convention, was one of the first delegates in the country to call on Biden to step down as the party’s nominee the day after watching his disastrous debate performance in June.
“I watched that debate, and it was painful. Like many other Americans, I went to bed very upset and very concerned,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said he sees Sunday’s extraordinary political news as a buoy for Democratic candidates from the top of the ticket down by motivating voters who were otherwise apathetic to supporting another Biden term.
“Now they’re going to come out, and … when they come out, we can get them to go vote Democrat from the top of the ticket all the way to the down ballot candidates for constable, for judge, for state representative, for state senator,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said Biden’s decision reflects the will of many voters he talks to.
“I can’t tell you how many people, when I’m going to the barbershop, when I’m in a grocery store, say they can’t vote for Biden or Trump,” Reynolds said. “I don’t have to do that now. Now I’m gonna be able to say ‘look, we got a clean slate.’”
Local Republicans’ reactions to the news echoed Trump’s initial statement in which he said Biden “was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!”
Harris County GOP Chair Cindy Siegel said the Democratic Party had thwarted the will of its voters by pressuring Biden to drop out.
“Democrats have painted President Trump as a ‘threat to democracy,’” Siegel wrote. “The real threat is the (Democratic) Party elites who will now personally select their nominee despite millions of Americans casting their ballots for another candidate.”
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