Biden alumni score wins in key midterm races, signaling a modest comeback
Former Biden staffers are picking up victories in gubernatorial and congressional contests as the former president watches from the sidelines.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor who served as President Biden’s senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement, topped the ticket by flipping the Georgia governorship on Tuesday.
Her victory was highlighted by Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff, who said the wins prove “President Biden assembled a talented team of public servants — who the public is calling on now to help turn this country around.”
While Biden stayed largely off the campaign trail, he did intervene in a few primaries, helping loyal lieutenants secure nominations.
In the congressional arena, Gabe Amo won a second full term after his 2023 special‑election win in a blue Rhode Island seat, and Dan Koh captured Massachusetts’ 6th District, succeeding Rep. Seth Moulton. Koh, a former deputy cabinet secretary and deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, thanked the Bidens in a reposted video, saying, “It wouldn’t have been possible without both of you… You changed my life by giving me a job of a lifetime.”
On the governor’s front, Xavier Becerra, the current secretary of Health and Human Services, entered the California race with a solid polling lead over Republican Steve Hilton, while Deb Haaland, the interior secretary, was projected to win the New Mexico governor’s race.
Andrew Bates, Biden’s longtime spokesperson, recalled the former president’s farewell warning about an emerging oligarchy and urged alumni to keep “standing up for the values that we all care about, including decency, hard work, and a sense of national community.”
The string of victories, according to the former staffers, is an “important part of rehabilitating his legacy within a Democratic Party that all but banished him in 2024.”
