Ohio Governor, Congressmen React to Decision

Governor Mike DeWine, Senator Sherrod Brown and other Ohio leaders react as President Biden ends his presidential campaign

Top elected officials in Ohio are calling on President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid — a dramatic shift as Democrats fight to retain Sen. Sherrod Brown’s Ohio seat and control of the U.S. Senate.

Biden struggled during the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump three weeks ago, reinforcing Democrats’ worst fears about Biden’s age and health. Donors, candidates and colleagues urged Biden to withdraw from the race and support a more viable candidate.

More: Joe Biden drops out of 2024 race amid mounting pressure from top Democrats

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in a statement that he wishes Biden “the very best.”

“I have known President Biden since 1995, when I entered the United States Senate and served with him on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Fran and I wish President Biden and the First Lady the very best as he serves out the remainder of his term and in the years ahead,” he said.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat running against Republican Bernie Moreno in a key U.S. Senate race in an increasingly Republican-leaning state, called on Biden on Friday to end his re-election campaign and thanked him after Sunday’s announcement.

“I thank President Biden for his years of dedicated service to the country we love — as a senator, as vice president, and as president,” he said.

More: For Democrats, it’s not just about their candidate, it’s about democracy on the ballot

Cincinnati Rep. Greg Landsman — a Democrat who took over the Southwest Ohio congressional seat from longtime Republican Rep. Steve Chabot in 2022 — also called for Biden to resign on Friday. He called Biden’s decision Sunday patriotic.

“The president is putting the country and our democracy first, as he has done for decades,” he wrote in a post on X.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou said in a statement on X that the president should resign immediately.

“If Joe Biden is not fit to be president in January, he is not fit to be president today,” he said.

Jessie Balmert and Erin Glynn are political reporters for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations in Ohio..