64% of Democratic voters don’t want Biden to be the party’s 2024 nominee
A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday indicates that President Joe Biden’s support among his own party’s base is eroding, with 64% of Democratic voters saying they would prefer a different candidate in 2024.
Asked whether they “think the Democratic Party should renominate Joe Biden as the party’s candidate for president in 2024” or pick a different candidate, nearly two-thirds of Democratic respondents opted for the latter while just 26% said the incumbent should be renominated.
A striking 94% of Democratic voters between the ages of 18 and 29—a group that has demanded bold climate action and student debt relief—said they want a different nominee, according to the new poll.
In a follow-up question, respondents were asked to select the most important reason they would prefer a different, unspecified nominee over Biden. A third of respondents answered that the president’s job performance is the primary factor, another 33% cited Biden’s age, and 10% said their preference stems from Biden not being “progressive enough.”
The survey was conducted between July 5 and July 7 and included 849 registered voters. The poll’s margin of error is 4.1 percentage points.
The new survey comes days after a separate poll found that a clear majority of U.S. voters don’t want Biden or former President Donald Trump to run in 2024.
“Biden’s support among Dems has collapsed—it’s not just the progressive vanguard,” author and journalist Zachary Carter wrote in response to the New York Times/Siena College survey, alluding to the outgoing White House communications director’s recent broadside against activists who have been critical of the administration.
Biden has insisted that he intends to run again in 2024 and, as of yet, no clear alternative Democratic candidate has emerged.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who vied for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020, has not ruled out another run, but he has made clear that he’s not planning to launch a primary challenge against Biden in 2024.
“I think Biden will probably run again, and if he runs again, I will support him,” Sanders said last month.
