From Kamala Harris to Gavin Newsom, Democrat contenders wait in wings if Joe Biden falls

If illness or incapacity prevents Joe Biden from standing in next year’s election, a number of candidates could rival Kamala Harris for the top job.

Vice President Kamala Harris would take over as president if Joe Biden became incapacitated in office. Picture: AFP.

If illness or incapacity prevents President Biden from standing in next year’s election, there is no shortage of Democrats willing to step into his shoes. While many have declared they will not challenge Biden for the nomination, they could yet emerge as contenders if there were to be a vacancy on the top of the ticket.

Who might emerge as the Democratic nominee in these circumstances would largely depend on timing. If Biden ceased to be president for whatever reason and at whatever time before the election in November 2024, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, 58, would take over in the Oval Office.

If that were to happen in the coming months, there would be plenty of opportunity for another candidate to challenge Harris in a full primary season next year. She would nonetheless have the advantage of incumbency and be in pole position.

The closer it gets to the Democratic convention, to be held in Chicago in August 2024, the less likely it is that any challenger would gain traction.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is a potential contender. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Gavin Newsom, the telegenic 55-year-old governor of California, has become very vocal on national issues and has clashed with Ron DeSantis, his Republican counterpart in Florida, on topics ranging from LGBT rights to abortion. Taxes in California are high and would be used by opponents in any national campaign as a warning to the rest of the country.

Newsom used to be married to Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancee of Donald Trump Jr, which could make an unusual talking point in any contest with Trump Sr.

JB Pritzker, 58, is the billionaire governor of Illinois, who was comfortably re-elected last year. He is pro-choice on abortion, has signed into law new curbs on gun ownership and wants to slash the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in the state. His vast wealth may be offputting to some on the left of the party.

Gretchen Whitmer, 51, was elected as governor of Michigan in 2018 and is seen as a rising star in the party. She gave the Democratic response to Donald Trump’s state of the union speech in 2020, sometimes seen as a springboard to greater things, but has no national political experience.

Pete Buttigieg, 41, is the transportation secretary. After standing against Biden for the 2020 nomination, and doing well in some early primaries, his star has faded after his handling of a train crash in Ohio this year, when toxic chemicals spilt in nearby rivers. He is thought to be eager to run for the White House again and would be the first openly gay presidential candidate were he to secure the nomination.

Two other candidates intend to seek the party’s nomination, but the activist Marianne Williamson and the anti-vaccine advocate Robert F Kennedy Jr, nephew of JFK and son of Robert Kennedy, are political novices whose campaigns have been seen as attention seeking.

The Times