Top-3 Candidates Who Could Replace Joe Biden as Democratic Nominee

Following his denial of sexual assault allegations and speculation about the poor state of his mental health, former Vice President Joe Biden may have fallen out of favour with some Democratic voters, recent polls have shown. But if the party is to select a new challenger to Donald Trump, who might that possibly be?

Former Vice President Joe Biden still remains the presumptive nominee from the Democratic party but this could still change at the snap of a finger. The presidential hopefuls could either decide to leave the race, following allegations of sexual abuse nearly three decades ago by his former employee Tara Reade, or he could be actually forced to do so by his own party should it refuse to confirm his nomination during the Democratic National Convention in August.

In this case, there are several faces, both new and painfully familiar, who could come to the party’s rescue, hoping that the November game will be finally won in the Democrats favour.

• Some political analysts suggest that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo could be chosen as the new Democratic nominee following his growing approval ratings among New Yorkers (and not only those from the Democratic party!) who support his handling of the pandemic in the state. Cuomo is indeed a likely outsider to be chosen by the members of the Democratic National Committee if Biden drops out of the race after the convention or by voting delegates if this happens before August. However, so far, the New York governor has shown little interest in joining the race, while openly slamming this option back in March.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo gives a COVID-19 Coronavirus update at the Javits Center in New York City, 27 March 2020

CC BY-SA 2.0 / Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo /

Unlike the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, who has never publicly dismissed the possibility of joining the presidential contest. The 52-year-old Hollywood governor has been making a string of TV appearances during the health crisis that have earned him a significant rise in approval ratings. He also has another big advantage to Cuomo, as California has a much larger number of voting delegates than New York, which could also play out in his favour during the August convention.

Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses his plan for the gradual reopening of California businesses during a news conference at the Display California store in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, May 5, 2020

© AP Photo / Rich Pedroncelli

However, no one should fully dismiss the possibility of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders re-emerging, as the former Democratic contender has simply “suspended” his campaign rather than completely ended it. Sanders has managed to nail the support of more than 900 delegates during the contests and is set to get even more in the delayed primaries (yes, he is still collecting them). But few now believe that the senator stands a real chance to become a Democratic nominee due to his low approval among the party’s leadership.

But apart from all the mentioned figures there is always a safe option for the Democratic party – which is to ask Hillary Clinton to come back to the game and again try her chances against Donald Trump. And according to some analysts, not only would Clinton not mind such an outcome, but she would also likely choose former president Barack Obama as her VP pick.