SoCal Congressmen Mike Levin, Scott Peters Join Growing List Of Lawmakers Calling For Biden To Not Run This Year

Congressmen Mike Levin (D-CA) and Scott Peters (D-CA) announced on Friday that he is calling for Biden to drop out of the 2024 Presidential race, becoming the second and third Congressional members from California overall to do so.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) was the first to break ranks on July 2nd in terms of Congressional support. Since then, 11 in total have said that they want Biden to leave the race. The California Democratic delegation, by far the largest in the House, had been pretty firm up until Sunday. Most members had said that they were firmly on Biden’s side, with a few saying more time was needed or outright refusing to say if they supported or didn’t support Biden. The most notable in the latter camp was Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), who actually received some flack for his indecisiveness.

Earlier this week, California had their first Congressional member to break away from the party – Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) of Riverside. However, many lawmakers continued to withhold on outright calling for Biden to step aside, with many waiting on Biden’s Thursday press conference. Biden gave his press conference on Thursday, and made it error prone like previous appearances, leading many more Democrats to drop out of support despite Biden trying to remain defiant. As of Friday afternoon, 19 Congressional Democrats, as well as one Senator, have joined the growing movement of withdrawing support for Biden. This included the two from California, Levin and Peters, from both Orange County and San Diego County respectively.

Peters was the first to do so late on Thursday, saying that “The nation owes an enormous debt of gratitude to President Biden for saving us from a second term of a Trump Presidency in 2020 and for leading with his huge heart and a steady hand in challenging times. His debate performance did not diminish his remarkable accomplishments and record of service. It’s now clear, however, that the president’s record of accomplishments will not translate into similar success in his reelection campaign.

“After a long primary process, we were on track to lose coming into the debate. The debate raised real concern among elected leaders, supporters, and voters that the president will not be able to wage a winning campaign. This was not a blip. And while the Biden campaign claims the post-debate national polls remain relatively unchanged, polling in the swing states has worsened alarmingly.

“Today I ask President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign. The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course. My conscience requires me to speak up and put loyalty to the country and to democracy ahead of my great affection for, and loyalty to, the president and those around him.”

Peters, Levin come out against Biden

Levin followed him on Friday, saying in a statement that “First, let me say that President Biden has been an outstanding leader, not only of our nation, but of the entire free world. Making this statement is not easy. I have deep respect for President Biden’s five plus decades of public service and incredible appreciation for the work we’ve done together these last three and a half years. But I believe the time has come for President Biden to pass the torch.

“In the two weeks since the debate, I’ve had a chance to connect with so many of you, our constituents and supporters. The response from literally several hundred of you has been overwhelming, and I’m very grateful for your candor.”

Other California Democrats are likely to follow soon. Republicans, however, have said the minimum on the issue, as adding more on top of Democrats could negatively affect them and that Democrats are doing enough damage to themselves already.

The Republican Party of Orange County said in a short statement that “Levin knows Biden’s days are numbered. He knew first-hand Washington DC’s worst kept secret – Biden’s failing cognitive state. And he said nothing.”

Political experts told the Globe on Friday that more Democrats were likely to join in against Biden over the weekend, with Biden to face a tough week next week amidst the RNC.

“Every major speech Biden seems to give turns more off,” explained San Diego area pollster Gale Martin to the Globe. “The election is coming up fast, and they are all still beating around the bush for the most part. The Democrats know that the longer this goes on, the more hurt they are going to be in November. The GOP has Trump. Dems don’t know who they have yet.

“This level of unsureness coming this close to a convention hasn’t happened in decades. The 1976 RNC convention, where Ford and Reagan went at it, was the last real time. And as for a sitting president to drop out, you’re right when we say we have to go back to LBJ in 1968 for that. Biden stays in, the GOP can bash him on so much. He goes out, the GOP has them on being undecisive. This is a huge problem, and Democrats, especially those in California, are realizing this.”

More California Democrats are expected to make announcements over the weekend on support status.