ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – For someone who has only been in elective politics for four years, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock from Georgia has won a lot of elections.
Maybe that’s why speculation is including Warnock as a possible running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris if she gets the Democratic nomination. Or even if someone else does.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden posted an announcement on social media that upended the nation’s 2024 election, when he announced he is ending his reelection campaign. Minutes later, another social media appeared in which Biden endorsed Harris to face three-time GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump this November.
Warnock and Georgia’s other U.S. senator, fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff, both endorsed Harris following Biden’s announcement.
Warnock released a statement on X in support of Harris, saying he was “proud to endorse her candidacy to be the next President of the United States.”
I join millions of Americans in thanking @JoeBiden for a half century of public service!
I’ve been proud to work alongside him & our very able Vice President, @KamalaHarris. I am proud to endorse her candidacy to be the next President of the United States.
My full statement👇🏿 pic.twitter.com/jzWMQqY2St
— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) July 22, 2024
Ossoff said in a statement on X that Harris is “absolutely the right candidate to defeat Donald Trump and unite our country,” and is “prepared, ready to win, & has my full support.”
Harris, of course, still has to win her party’s White House nomination; the Democratic convention is set for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. But speculation immediately began about a possible running mate for her.
In 2020, Warnock ran against U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who had been appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to fill out the late Johnny Isakson’s unexpired Senate term. Warnock got the endorsements from failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams; U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, among others; the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; and former presidents Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter.
Neither Warnock nor Loeffler won a majority in the November election, which led to a runoff in which Warnock defeated Loeffler, becoming the first Black U.S. senator from Georgia or from any deep Southern state; and the first Black Democrat elected to the Senate by a former Confederate state.
In 2022, Warnock ran for his first full, six-year Senate term. Again, neither Warnock nor his Republican opponent, UGA football legend Herschel Walker, won an outright majority in November, leading to another runoff in which Warnock was victorious. Warnock became the first Georgia Democrat to win reelection to the Senate since Sam Nunn in 1990 and the first deep South Democrat to win reelection to the Senate since Mary Landrieu of Louisiana in 2008.
Warnock will be in Savannah on Monday for a tour of Gulfstream’s Savannah headquarters and Savannah Technical College.
Other possible VP picks being bandied about include:
Kentucky Gov. Andy BeashearMichigan Gov. Gretchen WhitmerIllinois Gov. J.B. PritzerNorth Carolina Gov. Roy CooperPennsylvania Gov. Josh ShapiroU.S. Sen. Mark Kelly from ArizonaCalifornia Gov. Gavin NewsomFull coverage: President Biden ends reelection bid
Harris is continuing to pick up endorsements from Georgia and national Democrats in the wake of Sunday’s stunning announcement from Biden.
In Georgia, U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson and Nikema Williams, Democrats who represent metro Atlanta’s fourth and fifth congressional districts respectively, issued their endorsements only hours after Biden’s announcement completely upended the 2024 general election.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also endorsed Harris, as did former Georgia state senator Jason Carter, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter. Biden has said previously Jimmy Carter has asked him to deliver his eulogy.
One conspicuous name missing from Harris’ list of endorsements is Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president for eight years.
“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Obama said on social media Sunday afternoon. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond.”
According to CBS News, Biden spent Saturday night with his immediate team, including longtime advisor Mike Donilon, to work on a path moving forward once he dropped out. According to reports, Biden made the decision to end his reelection bid Saturday evening and made calls to Harris, his chief of staff and campaign chair before releasing his letter on social media at 1:46 p.m. Sunday.
Biden seemingly eventually bowed to tremendous pressure from within his own party, a downfall that began after his disastrous debate performance — at least, for Democrats — against Trump in Atlanta.
During the debate, Biden often appeared confused and disoriented and had trouble completing thoughts and sentences.
The following weeks saw Biden hold a major news conference; conduct two national network interviews and several others; make a national TV appearance after an attempted assassination against Trump and go into self-isolation after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
Biden is the first sitting president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to end his reelection bid, and the first in U.S. history to end his reelection campaign after winning virtually all of his party’s primaries.
In 2020, Biden became the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992 to carry Georgia — or any other deep Southern state — in a presidential election.
Had Biden stayed in the race, he and Trump would have been the first two presidential candidates to have faced each other in consecutive elections since 1956, when GOP President Dwight D. Eisenhower again defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson in a repeat of the 1952 election.
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Publish date : 2024-07-21 20:08:00
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