Biden exits 2024 race; Long Beach officials react

Local Democratic officials thanked President Joe Biden for his decades of service following his announcement Sunday to not seek reelection in November.

“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,” Biden said in a letter posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account Sunday.

He then endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in a later tweet.

Biden, who is 81, said he would speak in greater detail about his decision later this week.

Rep. Robert Garcia, who represents Long Beach in Congress, called Biden “an American hero” and “the most accomplished president of our lifetime” on X. “I could not be more proud of him,” he added. 

Garcia was also swift to endorse Harris.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents the 4th District, which includes Long Beach, posted on X shortly after Biden.

“We thank him for his decades of public service and joining with all of us as we make sure our democratic values win in November,” she tweeted.

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson thanked Biden for his service in a post on X. "Our economy, our infrastructure, and our country are stronger thanks to your leadership," he said.

District 8 Councilman Al Austin was also swift to commend Biden, calling him "selfless."

On the heels of a trip to the Port of Long Beach U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg posted to X on Sunday, saying he is “so proud to serve under his leadership, and thankful for his unwavering focus on what is best for our country.”

Though Biden easily won enough primary elections to secure the presidential nomination earlier this year, conversations about his age and political future “were never resolved,” Cal State Long Beach political science professor Matt Lesenyie said. 

Lesenyie said he saw parallels in Biden’s case to the late California Senator Diane Feinstein, who died in office in 2023 at the age of 90. During her last years in office, her staff had put a system in place to shield her from the press, even going so far as to make sure she never walked the halls of Congress alone, according to Rolling Stone.

Who ultimately will become the Democratic Presidential nominee is difficult to say. “Any party would be divided in this case,” Lesenyie said.

Since Biden “put his thumb on the scale” and said he believes the nominee should be Vice President Harris, that will make it easier for everyone in the Democratic Party, Lesenyie said. “‘I’m not running, but here’s the plan,’ he is saying,” Lesenyie said.

Since Biden already demonstrated political leadership by winning the 2020 election, it would be easier for the party elites to follow that, Lesenyie added.

Because Harris doesn’t automatically become the new presidential nominee, this could still prove to be a tricky situation for mid-life politicians, Lesenyie said. In the rush to support Harris or another candidate entirely, it is unclear whether they are helping or hindering their political futures, according to Lesenyie. 

In any case, now Democratic Party delegates will vote at the upcoming Democratic National Convention to determine their presidential and vice presidential nominees. The DNC may hold a “digital roll call” the first week of August, according to the Washington Post. If not, then the delegates would vote at the convention itself, which will be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. 

An open convention like that hasn’t occurred since 1968. 

At such a convention, delegates will vote for presidential and vice presidential nominees until candidates secure the required number of votes. In the past, candidates have sometimes required multiple, even dozens, of ballots to win the requisite number of delegates. But how many ballots that takes doesn’t really determine how the November election will turn out, Lesenyie said. Historically, candidates who have needed multiple rounds of voting at the convention have proceeded to win the presidency, Lesenyie said. 

Since the passage of the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, which limited presidents to two terms, in 1947, just two incumbents have declined to run for a second term. Democrat Harry Truman, though not bound by the 22nd Amendment because he was president when it was passed, declined to run for another term in 1952 after polls showed him far behind Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower (Eisenhower ended up defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson in a landslide in the 1952 election). 

Similarly, Democrat Lyndon Johnson declined to run for reelection in 1968 after deciding that he was unlikely to win, according to his biographer Robert Dallek. At the DNC that year, which was also held in Chicago, delegates chose VP Hubert Humphrey, who went on to narrowly lose that year’s presidential race to Republican Richard Nixon.