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Almost 80 percent of Democratic voters are in favor of Kamala Harris taking over the party’s nomination from Joe Biden, a new poll has shown, following the president’s shock decision to bow out of the 2024 race for the White House.
A survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of CBS News showed that just 21 percent were in favor of nominating someone else over the vice president.
The announcement of Biden’s departure from the campaign trail seems to have invigorated Democratic voters, with 45 percent saying that the party’s chances against Donald Trump in November were now “better.”
Some 10 percent said that the chances of a Democrat win were worse, 17 percent said they were unchanged and 28 percent said it “depends on who the nominee is.” However despite this 79 percent of those surveyed backed Harris as the candidate, according to the poll.
Despite the tumult of his final weeks in office, which prompted senior figures within the Democratic party to call for him to drop out, Biden’s legacy among the public remained largely favorable, according to CBS.
Some 43 percent said they would look back at the legacy as “excellent”, while 39 percent said it was “good”. 15 percent said that Biden’s time in office had been fair and only 3 percent considered the president’s legacy as “poor.”
This CBS News/YouGov survey was based on a national sample of 1,071 registered voters who identify as Democrats, who were interviewed July 21-22, 2024. All respondents participated in earlier national surveys of registered voters fielded July 11-13 and July 16-18, 2024, according to CBS.
The numbers echoed remarks made by senior party members including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama. In a statement issued on Monday, Pelosi said America had been blessed by the wisdom and leadership of President Joe Biden,” as she offered her official backing to Harris.
The support from the Democrat higher-ups echoes that of the public, demonstrated by the funds raised by the newly rebranded Harris 2024 campaign – $84 million. The surge in new donations augments the $264 million war chest raised over the last quarter when Biden was still at the helm.
According to the newly rebranded campaign, the $84 million sum “reflects money raised across the campaign, Democratic National Committee, and joint fundraising committees,” and includes 888,000 grassroots donors, a full 60 percent of whom gave for the first time this cycle.
The campaign also announced a new crop of 43,000 recurring donors who signed up after Biden passed the torch to Harris, as well as $1.6m raised by a Zoom call hosted by the group Win with Black Women.
Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, said the “historic outpouring” of support for Harris “represents exactly the kind of grassroots energy and enthusiasm that wins elections.”
