Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged as the most popular option to be President Joe Biden's replacement as the Democratic Party's nominee over any other potential candidate, according to polling conducted for Newsweek.
She also comes in first among those who voted for Biden in 2020.
Several Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to step aside following a much maligned performance in a presidential debate on June 27 that triggered fresh concerns about the 81-year-old's age and ability to beat Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, in November.
But Harris and other lawmakers have rallied behind Biden as he made clear he has no intention of quitting the race.
Eleven out of 12 national polls conducted since the debate have shown Trump leading Biden, according to RealClearPolitics' poll tracker. Polls are split on whether any potential replacement would perform better against Trump.
Should Biden ultimately step aside, Harris is widely viewed as his logical successor at the top of the Democratic ticket. She defended Biden as a "fighter" while referencing the turmoil in the Democratic Party during a campaign stop in Nevada on Tuesday.
"He is the first to say: when you get knocked down, you get back up," she said. "So, we continue to fight, and we will continue to organize. And in November, we will win."
The poll for Newsweek, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, found that Harris was by far the most popular choice out of a list of 13 possible replacements. The poll surveyed 1,500 eligible voters on July 8.
According to the poll, 23 percent said they would most prefer Harris replace Biden. Among those who voted for Biden in 2020, 39 percent said they would most prefer Harris.
Ten percent of voters said they would most prefer Hillary Clinton, a former presidential candidate who lost to Trump in 2016, replace Biden, while the same proportion said they would most prefer former first lady Michelle Obama.
Few voters were enthused about top Democrats who have been floated as possible replacements for Biden—6 percent said they would most prefer Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 5 percent said California Governor Gavin Newsom and 1 percent said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. And 6 percent said they would most prefer if Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders replaced Biden. However, 25 percent said they didn't know who they preferred.
The poll found more than half—54 percent—think Biden should not run for reelection, while 56 percent said that he is not mentally or physically capable of performing his duties as president. Sixty percent said they were more concerned about Biden's fitness for office than they were before the debate. It also found that 45 percent think Democrats would have a better chance of winning in November if Biden is not their nominee.
The Biden campaign has been contacted for comment via email.
"It's interesting that the share of voters who think President Biden should not run for re-election has not budged much, at least since March 2024," Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University, told Newsweek.
"This finding suggests his weak performance at the debate and the worries it has caused voters has not put much of a dent in support for Biden to run for re-election. Among alternatives to Biden, support has also not changed much for specific prospects since March, except for Vice President Harris, for whom support has strengthened somewhat."
Panagopoulos said that "as the sitting vice president, it's not very surprising that the lion's share of Biden's 2020 voters would prefer to see Harris replace Biden at the top of the ticket, but that still leaves most (over 60 percent) of his 2020 voters who do not express support for this option. These poll data suggest the race to replace Biden if he steps aside is rather wide open, with several viable contenders in the mix."
Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, said the more important polls are the ones that survey voters on head-to-head matchups between potential Democratic nominees and Trump, and account for third-party candidates.
"If Biden steps down at the convention, his replacement will be determined by party elites, not voters," Gift said.
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Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, sexual ... Read more
