Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, ex-Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, and ex-White House engagement director Keisha Lance Bottoms are walking a careful line as they seek top offices in their states. All three are running for governor in 2026, and all three cite their work in the Biden administration as proof of executive experience. Yet none has featured the former president's name or image in any campaign ads, and they rarely invoke him by name at events.
The contrast with Republican candidates is stark. GOP hopefuls have fully embraced Donald Trump and his record, including between his two terms. But for these three Democrats, Biden's post-presidency has become a complicated liability. He left office with historically low approval ratings, and recent headlines have intensified that damage. Former first lady Jill Biden told CBS News that she feared her husband was "having a stroke" during his disastrous summer 2024 debate performance, which ultimately forced him to end his reelection campaign.
Becerra's campaign in California offers the clearest example of this balancing act. Running in a competitive all-party primary, he has aggressively highlighted his tenure as health secretary, alongside his record as state attorney general and 12 terms in Congress. He frequently touts Biden administration achievements: expanded Medicare, negotiated drug price reductions, and a capped monthly out-of-pocket insulin price. But his campaign ads make no mention of Biden himself, and the candidate rarely names him at events.
Some of Becerra's competitors have criticized him over his handling of the pandemic, the surge of unaccompanied migrant children at the border, a baby formula shortage, and an mpox outbreak. However, none have attacked his Biden connection. A Becerra campaign spokesperson said the campaign had "struck a great balance" on framing his administration experience, adding that California voters cared more about his individual accomplishments than his association with the former president.
Haaland, the strong favorite in New Mexico's Democratic primary, has taken a different approach. She told NBC News that Biden is "absolutely an asset" to her campaign and called him a "true partner" to New Mexico and Indigenous communities. She has praised his historic apology for the forced Native American boarding school policy. Last month, she told the New York Times that "once all the dust settles, people are going to say that he was one of the best presidents we've ever had." Still, her ads focus on the historic nature of her candidacy and fighting Trump, with no mention of Biden by name.
Bottoms received Biden's very first post-presidential endorsement, and her campaign publicized it heavily. She has praised him as a "great man" in interviews and podcasts, and told voters that Georgia benefited from administration achievements like student loan forgiveness and small-business support. Yet Bottoms, who won Georgia's Democratic nomination earlier this month, has also kept Biden out of her campaign advertisements. Her Republican opponents, likely facing her in November, have signaled they intend to make her ties to Biden a centerpiece of their attacks.
Democratic strategists say the Biden relationship is not the defining issue for these candidates. All three had established political careers in their states long before their time in the administration. Haaland was the first Native American woman elected to Congress and chaired the New Mexico Democratic Party. Bottoms is primarily known as the former mayor of Atlanta. Joshua Marcus-Blank, a Democratic strategist who has worked on Senate and gubernatorial campaigns nationwide, noted that voters care far more about how candidates fight Trump and address issues like gas prices than about connections to the Biden years.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "These three are caught between a credential that won them their jobs and a liability that could cost them the election. It's a messy position that says everything about the state of the Democratic Party right now."
Comments