Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Sen. Martin Heinrich join growing demand for Biden to quit the race

Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Sen. Martin Heinrich, along with eight other congressional Democrats, have joined the lengthy list of lawmakers asking President Joe Biden to quit the 2024 presidential race. These calls come as rumors of his potential making that exit as soon as this weekend, as well increasing pressure from Democrats, swirl around the campaign.

The list of the latest 10 as of mid-afternoon on Friday included Democratic Reps. Jared Huffman of California, Chuy Garcia of Illinois, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Marc Veasey of Texas, Sean Casten of Illinois, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Betty McCollum of Minnesota, Kathy Castor of Florida, and Zoe Lofgren of California. The third in the Senate to call for Biden to step aside was Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, per NBC News. 

Lofgren released a letter stating, "Simply put, your candidacy is on a trajectory to lose the White House and potentially impact crucial House and Senate races down ballot. It is for these reasons that I urge you to step aside from our Party’s nomination to allow another Democratic candidate to compete against and beat Donald Trump in the November election." 

Heinrich also made a statement for Biden to step down. “While the decision to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is in the best interests of our country for him to step aside,” he said, per The Hill. “By passing the torch, he would secure his legacy as one of our nation’s greatest leaders and allow us to unite behind a candidate who can best defeat Donald Trump and safeguard the future of our democracy." 

The continuous calls for Biden seem to be mounting as the president has faced increased private and public scrutiny from colleagues as well as everyday Democrats for him to step out of the race.