After President Joe Biden's departure from the presidential race Sunday, some Washington Democrats followed his lead and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the top of the ticket.
Others have not immediately said in initial statements who they'll back, as Democrats scramble to look at other options who might poll better against former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
With just a few weeks left before 135 Washington delegates head to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the chair of the state party argued the party should unite behind Harris and warned against racist and sexist attacks on her.
Most Democrats in Washington's congressional delegation had not publicly stated they would endorse Harris or any candidate. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, who is one of the highest-ranking members of the Senate, Sen. Maria Cantwell, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Marilyn Strickland issued endorsements Sunday.
Harris was racing to lock down support for her White House bid, just hours after Biden's announcement. She spoke with the chairs of three key coalitions on Capitol Hill, Jayapal of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., of the New Democrat Coalition. All three have backed Harris for the nomination.
After her call, Jayapal posted on X that the vice president "1000%" has her support, saying Harris has "the smarts, the experience, the accomplishments and the agenda to lead us to victory in November." Jayapal later posted that the members of the Progressive Caucus "overwhelmingly voted to endorse" Harris.
Cantwell said in a statement the party needed a "standard-bearer who can deliver our economic message."
She later posted on X that Harris "is a fierce advocate for working-class Americans, for reproductive rights, for investing in our nation and every citizen."
"The contrast between her and Donald Trump couldn't be more clear and consequential on our environment, our fiscal health, and our democracy," she said.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Bellevue, one of the earliest voices on Capitol Hill to call for Biden to step aside, said in a statement on X that he believed Biden "made the right decision."
In an interview with The Seattle Times shortly after his initial comments about Biden, Smith said Harris would be his pick for the nomination. He also named several other Democratic officials who could step in, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who both ran for president in 2020.
On Thursday, he explained he feels Harris should secure the nomination through the delegates' voting process rather than being "anointed." The Democratic National Committee decided Friday it's pressing ahead with plans for a virtual roll call before Aug. 7 to nominate the presidential pick, before the party's convention later in the month.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, who is chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Biden "has been the most consequential president in modern history."
"His legacy will be one of principled leadership with a focus on families and communities, striving to ensure opportunity and prosperity for all," DelBene said in a statement. "I am grateful to President Biden for his historic achievements to strengthen our country. This fall, Democrats will take back the People's House to build on his legacy and defend our rights, our freedoms, and our democracy for generations to come."
Gov. Jay Inslee, who had not publicly joined calls for Biden step aside, praised his decision to drop out of the race .
"As he's done for five decades, Joe Biden put his country first," Inslee said in a post on X. "In the long scope of history, his work to protect us from the ravages of climate change will be seen as an historic achievement. Biden is going out on top with a long record of accomplishments we can all be proud of."
Later in the day, Inslee posted that Biden's support for Harris "offers an historic path forward for Democrats and our nation" and called her a "talented leader" who was highly qualified to unite the Democratic Party and serve as president.
"We know the stakes of this election and Harris has what it takes to win," he said.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, the Democratic front-runner for governor, immediately backed Harris.
"Kamala Harris is smart, hardworking, and tough. She'll never back down to powerful interests — and she genuinely cares about people," Ferguson wrote on X, including a photo of him and Harris. "She is a prosecutor who has put away criminals. She's exactly the fighter we need to take on a convicted felon in November and win."
It's not immediately clear what will happen at the August convention, or what role the state's delegates will play.
Except for two delegates who were officially "uncommitted" (as part of a protest against Biden's handling of the Israel-Gaza war) all of Washington's pledged delegates had been committed to Joe Biden, who faced no serious primary opposition.
While Biden endorsed Harris to take his place at the top of the ticket, he did not direct his delegates to vote for her, and some have called for an open convention where other could compete.
"I think at this moment we do not have clarity at exactly how things will proceed," said Shasti Conrad, chair of the state Democratic Party, in an interview Sunday. "This is an unprecedented process."
Democratic Party officials are sorting out whether to go ahead with plans for a "virtual roll call" nomination vote that would take place before the convention out of concerns for ballot deadlines in certain states, chiefly Ohio.
Washington's 135 delegates include 111 who were elected by party activists. The remaining 24 are "automatic" delegates, including Conrad and other state Democratic leaders, as well as Inslee, former Gov. Gary Locke, and the state's U.S. Senators and U.S. House members.
Washington's own state law requires presidential candidates to be certified for the November ballot by Aug. 20 this year — during the middle of the DNC, which is taking place Aug. 19-22. Prior to Biden's exit from the race, election officials said they would accept a letter from the DNC attesting that Biden was their candidate.
The Secretary of State's Office confirmed Sunday it would still accept a letter from the Democratic National Committee by the deadline, attesting to their party's nominee.
Biden's withdrawal from the race came amid dismal polling in swing states, but voters in polls had for years expressed doubts about his advanced age and ability to continue in the job.
Critics have also attacked Biden's team and some allies for concealing his mental fitness and seeking to gaslight some who pointed then out.
Asked whether top Democrats should have acknowledged such issues long ago, Conrad said: "I think we all have been responding to a changing landscape in real time. All of us had full faith and we still do have full support in the president."
It was only "in the past few weeks that the party was recognizing we might need to move in a different direction," she said.
State Republicans weigh in
Jim Walsh, the chair of the state's Republican Party, said on X that it was "troubling that Biden is quitting at this late point."
"Many American voters chose him in caucuses & primaries," Walsh said. "Now, Biden is allowing Party elites to override the voters' choice. This is not democracy. It's a small group — more extreme than ordinary voters — putting Party over People."
"This year is insane," said Mathew Patrick Thomas, chair of the King County Republicans, in an interview.
Thomas just returned from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Donald Trump spoke after narrowly surviving an assassination attempt.
And now, just a week later, Trump's Democratic opponent this fall is unknown.
"The Republicans came out the convention 100% united behind a candidate and Democrats are going to go to a convention undecided," said Thomas, who is also a newly sworn-in member of the Republican National Committee.
He said Biden's decline is something "everyone knew of the past few years," but was ignored until the last minute by Democrats. "Now they're panicking," he said.
Thomas said he's still confident in a Trump win if the Democrats stick with Harris.
"She's just as unpopular as Biden is," he said, pointing to her getting tasked by the Biden administration with handling problematic immigration issues.
What do voters think?
After the news broke Sunday, people at the Seattle Center for the Bite of Seattle food festival described anxiety and excitement about the path forward.
Kate Castillo, 28, said she has been worrying about the presidential race and was surprised to hear Biden announce his exit.
"Now I'm even more anxious about the election and I hope really everyone takes this time to get more knowledgeable about each candidate and really vote, 'cause it seems very dire," Castillo said.
Castillo said she was not sure how she felt about Harris as the candidate.
"I mean, if he does support Kamala Harris, then you know, then so be it. But I do hope there's other candidates who will try for the Democratic position and hopefully someone who could really support the country itself," she said.
A new statewide poll released Wednesday showed support for Biden remained strong in Washington following his shaky debate performance, even as large numbers of Democrats and independents in the state said they wanted him to withdraw.
For Washington's moderate and liberal-minded voters, the fear of a second Trump term acts as a girding for the state's blue reputation. The WA Poll, sponsored by The Seattle Times, KING 5 and the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, was conducted before the assassination attempt on Trump last week.
In the poll, 53% of Washington voters said the party should nominate Harris if Biden dropped out. Thirty-two percent said the party should nominate someone else.
Historia Gentry, 24 of Kent, said they were initially happy that Biden opted to drop out, as they thought Biden was "too old" to be running for a second term.
"I think they should have chosen someone else from the get-go," Gentry said.
Liberty David, 47 of Kitsap County, said she was happy about Biden's decision to drop out of the race and that she was "a little more excited about voting now."
Joshua Datz, 20 of Ashland, Ore., called the news a relief. "He's got a good heart, but it's something that needed to happen," he said. "And I was really relieved to see it happen."
Datz added that he is worried about the potential outcome of the election if Harris is the top candidate for president, but said he thinks the Democratic Party needs to act quickly and decisively.
"You're adding in the factor of race into that whole kind of stir pot of, you know, racism and sexism that's really ingrained in America's kind of national political identity," Datz said. "But she's incredibly intelligent. She has a background in law and can speak to what's going on at the Supreme Court, which is really important."
Erik Irving, 49 of the University District, said he was "bummed" upon hearing the news, but hopeful for the future. Irving said he hopes standout candidates come forward in the next week and thinks Harris would do a "great job" as president.
"Little melancholy about it, but I'm cautiously optimistic that something will come out that will give us some hope and a direction for the future," Irving said.
"I think she's very qualified to be president, be the first woman president," he said. "I mean, it's kind of an exciting time as far as that goes."
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