But… what if Biden’s plans change? Below, take a look at the most commonly mentioned names for the 2024 candidates and a line on their viability.
* Kamala Harris: She’s certainly struggled as vice president but she’s still the Democratic nominee without Biden most likely to be the Democratic nominee in 2024.
* Pete Buttigieg: The most naturally gifted candidate in the field for 2024, “Mayor Pete” is also the head and center of Biden’s infrastructure bill sale.
* Elizabeth Warren: The Massachusetts senator is still popular with libertarians – and won’t split the vote with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders this time around like she did in 2020.
* Amy Klobuchar: Aside from Buttigieg, the Minnesota senator is perhaps the most highly rated of the 2020 losing candidates — and her Midwestern roots have always been a plus on the electoral map.
* Roy Cooper: Out of his term in office in 2024, the governor of North Carolina has plenty of time to consider his next step – starting with serving as vice president of the Democratic Governors Association.
* Mitch Landrieu: Being tasked with implementing the infrastructure bill is a big (and high-profile) job the former New Orleans mayor has done with gusto.
* Gina Raimondo: She’s made the leap from Rhode Island governor to Biden administration commerce secretary but doubts remain over whether she’s too dovish to win the party’s primaries Democracy in the moment or not.
* Gretchen Whitmer: The governor of Michigan needs to win next year’s tough re-election race before she can move on to seriously considering a national run.
* Phil Murphy: The record of New Jersey governors running for president isn’t too late (sorry, Chris Christie!) But Murphy can use the next few years of his governor’s tenure as a testing ground for a party’s national policy number.
* JB Pritzker: Pritzker has two things going for him – 1) He’s the governor of a large Midwestern state (Illinois) and 2) he’s very, very rich.
* Stacey Abrams: Abrams spoke openly about running in 2020 before passing the race; but she needs to win the governor’s mansion of Georgia in 2022 before thinking too much about 2024.
The point: If Biden decides not to run, we’ll most likely be looking at a very crowded field of Democrats looking to replace him.
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