City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin urges President Biden to end reelection bid so Vice President Harris can be Democratic nominee

CHICAGO — The Democratic National Convention at Chicago’s United Center is a month away, and the city’s treasurer is joining the ranks of Democrats urging President Joe Biden to step aside so Vice President Kamala Harris can take over as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin released a statement Sunday morning calling on Biden to end his reelection campaign and endorsing Harris. The DNC is Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.

In her statement, Conyears-Ervin praised Biden. But she also said the president is no longer the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump, who officially accepted the GOP presidential nomination during last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

“I love Joe Biden, and it pains me greatly to ask him to end his campaign to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States,” Conyears-Ervin said in her statement. “But the risk to this country is too great for him to shoulder alone when it is plainly obvious that he is no longer the strongest candidate our party can nominate.”

Since a poor debate performance, Biden has faced mounting calls from his own party and other congressional leaders to step aside. On Sunday, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) became the fifth senator to call on Biden to drop out of the presidential race.

According to some overseas betting sits, Harris’ odds of winning the 2024 presidential election against Trump have now overtaken Biden’s. Despite calls for the incumbent president to step aside, Biden’s campaign reiterated in a post-RNC memo that he will be the Democratic nominee once again.

In her statement Sunday endorsing Harris, Conyears-Ervin said she will support Biden if he does secure the Democratic nomination in Chicago next month. But she’s pushing for Harris to do so instead.

“If President Biden is our nominee, I will enthusiastically support him,” Conyears-Ervin said in her statement. “But he should not be. He should pass the torch to the woman he chose to succeed him when the times demand so: Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Donald Trump is for only one person: himself. To counter the forces of selfishness, division, and hate, we need to respond with selflessness, unity, and love for our country.”

In praising Biden, Conyears-Ervin specifically cited what he’s done for the Black community.

“As a Black woman, he has been one of our nation’s great presidents,” she said in her statement. “He has centered his administration, agenda, and nominations around equity and inclusion. He successfully appointed the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, the first Black man to be Secretary of Defense, and he has prioritized the Black community in his signature infrastructure, clean energy, and economic policy accomplishments.

“He has made me so proud to be an American, and I will forever be grateful to him for not only inspiring me, but my young daughter who will know, from her earliest memory, that Black women have a seat at the table of our highest institutions.”

Conyears-Ervin says Biden has a chance to do something else historic, to step aside so Harris can run against Trump.

“President Biden has a historic, legacy-defining opportunity to do something only our greatest leaders have ever done: relinquish power because it’s the right thing to do,” Conyears-Ervin said in her statement.

“I am encouraging him to end his bid for the presidency, endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, and give our country the opportunity to stop Donald Trump’s campaign to bring revenge, corruption, and division back to the White House.”

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