Nearly half of Democrats don’t want Biden to run in 2024, poll finds

Nearly half of Democrats — 44% — prefer that President Joe Biden not seek re-election in 2024 and allow someone else to be the party’s standard bearer, according to a new national Monmouth University poll.  

But the survey shows that Democrats are divided over whom should replace Biden as the party’s presidential nominee, and three-quarters of Democrats have a favorable view of the president.  

In the poll, 44% of Democrats want Biden step aside so someone else can run for president next year; 25% say they want Biden to seek a second term; and 30% have no preference either way. 

Even though a plurality of Democrats say they want someone else to run in 2024, the Monmouth poll also finds that they’re divided on a replacement. 

Thirteen percent say they’d like to see Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrats’ presidential nominee if Biden doesn’t run; 6% want Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt; another 6% pick Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and 4% want Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. 

Fifty-one percent of Democratic respondents couldn’t name a replacement. 

What’s more, Biden remains popular in the party, with 74% of Democrats having a favorable view of the president, versus 14% who view him in a negative light. 

That net-positive rating for Biden among Democrats (+60) is higher than any other potential 2024 contender, including Sanders (+59), Warren (+52), Buttigieg (+48) and Harris (+45). 

The exceptions are two Democrats who have said they won’t run or who are prohibited by the Constitution from seeking another term — former President Barack Obama (+84) and former first lady Michelle Obama (+82).  

The Monmouth University poll was conducted March 16-20 of 542 Democrats — reached by cell phone, landline phone and online — and it has a margin of error of plus-minus 6.3 percentage points.