Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) said today that President Joe Biden should end his campaign for re-election, joining a small crowd of Democrats who have called on Biden to step aside in the wake of his poor debate performance last month.
“I know that President Biden and his team have been true public servants and have put the country and the best interests of democracy first and foremost in their considerations,” Sherrill said in a statement. “And because I know President Biden cares deeply about the future of our country, I am asking that he declare that he won’t run for reelection and will help lead us through a process toward a new nominee.”
Sherrill is the first sitting member of Congress from New Jersey to call for Biden to drop out, and one of the first anywhere in the country. Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes), now the chairman of the Hunterdon County Democrats, has also said the 81-year-old Biden should “pass the torch” to a new Democratic nominee.
Sherrill’s decision will undoubtedly have reverberations through New Jersey politics, especially given that she is viewed as a potential candidate for governor in 2025. New Jersey’s Democratic voters renominated Biden with 88% of the vote last month, though they did so without being presented with any other viable alternatives.
In her statement, Sherrill said that her fear of a second Trump term drove her to make the decision she did.
“When I think of my four children and all of the rights that another Trump presidency endangers, and in light of the recent Supreme Court decision that gave inordinate power to the President of the United States, the stakes are too high – and the threat is too real – to stay silent,” she said. “I realize this is hard, but we have done hard things in pursuit of democracy since the founding of this nation. It is time to do so again.”
Earlier today, Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, said that he has concerns about Biden’s ability to beat Trump and that he is open to selecting a new nominee, but he didn’t go so far as to say Biden should drop out.
“I do have concerns,” Kim said. “If [Biden’s team] want to rebut some of what people are concerned about, that’s on them. But dismissing it would not be right. People have concerns – I mean, this is the presidency of the United States. So I think it’s very important to be upfront and honest about where things are.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff), another prominent New Jersey House Democrat, had little to say about the matter, telling the New Jersey Globe that “it’s up to [Biden] what he wants to do.”
Senator Cory Booker and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Wyckoff) have similarly declined to speculate on Biden, saying that their focus is on beating Trump; Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) refused to talk to the New Jersey Globe about the situation at all. And three New Jersey House Democrats – Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), and Donald Norcross (D-Camden) – explicitly affirmed their support for Biden yesterday.
“I’m comfortable with Biden being the presidential nominee,” Watson Coleman said. “I thought he had a bad [debate] night, but I don’t think that speaks anything about his ability to run for the office and to win the office.”
Biden, for his part, has insisted that he’s not going anywhere, saying in a letter to House Democrats yesterday that he is “firmly committed to staying in this race.” And so far, few House Democrats have bucked him, with many saying publicly that he should remain the nominee – but Sherrill has chosen to be the exception.