Three former Biden administration officials running for governor in 2026 are balancing their White House experience as a credential while keeping distance from a former president who has faced tough headlines since leaving office. The three candidates — former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in New Mexico, former Health Secretary Xavier Becerra in California and former White House Office of Public Engagement director Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia — have rarely mentioned Joe Biden by name at campaign events and none have run ads that include his image or refer directly to him.
The approach contrasts sharply with how Republican candidates up and down the ballot have embraced Donald Trump and his record, including between his two terms. Since leaving office, Biden has been fighting through difficult new headlines, including the release of the Democratic National Committee's "autopsy" of the 2024 election and former first lady Jill Biden telling CBS News she feared her husband was "having a stroke" during his disastrous summer debate that led him to abandon his re-election effort. Biden left office with historically low approval ratings.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive Democrats and party strategists say the candidates' approach reflects a pragmatic understanding of what voters want: leaders focused on fighting Trump and his policies rather than dwelling on the previous administration. Democratic strategist Joshua Marcus-Blank, who has worked for Senate and gubernatorial campaigns across the country, said all three candidates have deep records in their own states that they have been running on.
"What people are looking for is someone to stand up and fight Trump," Marcus-Blank told NBC News. "What is driving those decisions a lot more so than the past administration or various moments from 2021 through 2024 is showing how I am fighting high gas prices, and the guy who's done nothing about it."
Becerra's campaign has pointed to his tenure as health secretary as part of a broader message casting him as an experienced leader. Campaign spokesperson Jonathan Underland said voters in California are focused on Becerra's individual accomplishments rather than associations with the former president.
"People in California are electing the next governor based on who they are, not necessarily who they worked for or who they're tied to," Underland said. "We're responding to what voters are looking for, which is for their governor to have the experience and the accomplishments."
What the Right Is Saying
Republican strategists argue that Biden's connection could become a liability in competitive states, particularly Georgia where both candidates running in June's GOP primary runoff — Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire Rick Jackson — have signaled they plan to make Bottoms' ties to the administration a central part of their message.
Becerra has faced significant blowback from former colleagues for taking credit for Biden administration achievements including expanding Medicare, negotiating lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and capping the monthly out-of-pocket price of insulin. Some competitors in California's all-party primary have criticized how he handled major challenges like the Covid pandemic, the surge of unaccompanied migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border, a pandemic-created shortage of baby formula and the 2022 mpox virus outbreak.
The Republican National Committee did not provide comment for this article, but GOP-aligned groups have pointed to polling showing historically low approval ratings for Biden as evidence that Democratic candidates may face headwinds in tying themselves closely to his record. Neither Biden nor former Vice President Kamala Harris has endorsed in the California governor's race.
What the Numbers Show
Haaland, who served one term representing the Albuquerque area before becoming interior secretary, was the first Native American woman elected to Congress and chaired New Mexico's Democratic Party. She is the strong favorite in Tuesday's primary.
Bottoms won Georgia's Democratic nomination earlier this month. As former mayor of Atlanta, she received Biden's very first post-presidential endorsement — a distinction her campaign has publicized in interviews. She told podcast audiences that Georgia voters expressed appreciation for specific administration accomplishments like student loan forgiveness and small-business support programs.
Biden has issued only a handful of endorsements since leaving office and has not waded into any of the three governor's races. Harris put out a slate of endorsements in California down-ballot races but did not endorse in the governor's contest.
The Bottom Line
The candidates' approach reflects broader Democratic Party tensions over how to handle Biden's legacy as he faces renewed scrutiny following his departure from office. All three are betting that their individual records and accomplishments will matter more to voters than their association with a historically unpopular former president.
Time will tell whether the strategy works, particularly in November matchups where Republican opponents plan to make the Biden connection a central argument. In Georgia — a battleground state — both GOP candidates have leaned heavily into Trump-centric messages targeting conservative voters, suggesting the general election campaign could feature sharp contrasts on federal administration records.
What happens next: Becerra faces his all-party primary in California; Haaland is expected to coast to her nomination before facing a Republican opponent in November; Bottoms will likely face either Jones or Jackson in what is expected to be a competitive Georgia governor's race.