Centre County Dems chair praises Biden’s ‘selfless decision,’ puts support behind Harris
The Centre County Democratic Committee is backing Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign after President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he’s leaving the race.
Officials across the country have issued statements about Biden’s decision to drop out, including former President Barack Obama and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Many Democrats have hailed the decision as a courageous one that puts the United States first.
In a statement issued Sunday night, Centre County Democratic Committee Chair Margie Swoboda applauded Biden’s decades of public service, calling him “the man who led us back from the brink after four chaotic years under Donald Trump.”
“(Dropping out) was a selfless decision, and millions of Americans who love Joe Biden — myself included — are both heartbroken and grateful for his leadership,” Swoboda wrote in the release. “Joe Biden put love of country above all else.”
She called Biden one of the most accomplished and consequential presidents in United States history.
“Against staggering odds, he passed historic legislation that improved the lives of millions of Americans and guided an economic recovery that is the envy of the world,” Swoboda wrote. “We have benefited enormously from his wisdom earned through a lifetime of service and the example of his resilience and empathy forged in personal tragedy.”
Biden’s Sunday decision follows weeks of speculation and calls from within his own party to exit from the race. A June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump raised questions about the president’s age, health and electability.
The day after that debate, Swoboda told the Centre Daily Times that voters should look at the work Biden has done in the past three and a half years of his presidency, not the 90 minutes of a debate.
After announcing his decision Sunday to drop out of the race, Biden endorsed Harris as the Democratic nominee for president in 2024. Shapiro, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., State Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, and others have followed in supporting Harris.
The Centre County Democratic Committee is also endorsing the vice president, said Swoboda, who is also a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
“When the Democratic Party convenes in Chicago on August 19, we will be UNITED to honor President Biden’s sacrifice and legacy! Thank you, President Joe Biden, for leading us out of the darkness, for standing in the breach against Trump’s ‘big lie,’ for all that you have done — and will continue to do — at this critical moment in the life of our nation,” she wrote in the statement.
Ezra Nanes, State College Borough’s mayor and a Pennsylvania delegate, also announced his endorsement of Harris on X, formerly Twitter, Sunday afternoon. On Monday, the Pennsylvania delegation to the Democratic National Convention unanimously voted to endorse Harris’ candidacy.
While some Republicans were swift Sunday to criticize Harris as the potential nominee, U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Howard, did not address her in a written statement.
“I was surprised to learn that President Biden has ended his campaign, pushed out under the pressure of Democratic Party elites, alongside vulnerable House Members and Senators, who saw risk to their own political futures by being tied to an executive who is clearly not up to the task,” Thompson said.
Harris has vowed to earn and win the nomination, and would face former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 election.
This story was originally published July 22, 2024 at 1:49 PM.