WASHINGTON — Though some potential challengers to Harris for the Democratic bid have already made it clear they would not run, there was some early indication Sunday that she might not be alone in seeking the nomination.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who left the party earlier this year to become an independent, considered re-registering as a Democrat to vie for the nomination against the vice president, according to Jonathan Kott, a longtime adviser to Manchin.
However, Manchin shot down any speculation of him pursuing the Democratic nomination on Monday.
"I am not going to be a candidate for president," the West Virginia Democrat-turned-independent told CBS a day after Biden ended his reelection bid. "I am a candidate for basically speaking to the middle of this country."
But Manchin didn't go as far as endorsing Harris. Instead, he called for the party to hold a "mini primary" to find its strongest candidate.
Manchin, who repeatedly irked Democrats with his independent streak but was also a lynchpin for the Biden administration’s biggest legislative accomplishments, was the latest senator to call on Biden to drop his candidacy before the president made his announcement Sunday.
Inside the White House, there had been low expectation that Harris will get a serious challenge following Biden’s endorsement, according to a person familiar with deliberations who requested anonymity to discuss the private conversations.
Among potential top tier contenders, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has already said she won’t run, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he would back Harris if she became the nominee and endorsed her Sunday.
Other names that have been bandied about as viable contenders — including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper — would also seem unlikely to run in light of Biden’s endorsement for Harris and the expected fundraising advantage she would hold over anyone else.
Meanwhile delegates who are pledged to support Biden at the Democratic National Convention expressed admiration for the president and also showed early signs of uniting around Harris.
“I believe it’s her time and has earned the right to be our nominee,” said Paul Pezzella, a Massachusetts delegate who has been active in Democratic politics for decades. “I can’t think any American isn’t sad about Biden’s decision and that he has proven to be a patriot.”
Lee Cutler, political coordinator for the Northeast Area Labor Council affiliated with the Minnesota AFL-CIO, said he wishes Democrats had been able to start the process of replacing Biden earlier in the electoral cycle but he is also proud of the president.
“When we were voting for Biden, we were also voting for Kamala Harris,” Cutler said. “We were voting for an 82-year-old man.”