Local residents and lawmakers react to President Biden dropping out of 2024 presidential race

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he is bowing out of the 2024 presidential race.

In a letter posted to his social media account, Biden will address the nation later this week, and in a separate post, he has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.

In the letter, Biden said:

"It has been the greatest honor of my lift to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term."

Following the news, locals shared their reaction to the news, with one resident, William Agee, saying, "Well, I think he made a good choice because he's getting too old. And, you know, we need people in there that are more capable than he has proved himself to be."

Arizona State Representative Tim Dunn (R-District 25) said Biden's announcement was unexpected.

"I thought he was going to try to stay on and run, but I don’t think he’s competent to run for four more years after what we saw the last couple of weeks. So it did surprise me that he came out [Sunday] afternoon with the written statement," Dunn expressed.

On the other hand, California Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz (D-District 25) says he's looking forward to Harris' presidential run.

"Vice President Harris has been a part of all of that and as a previous Attorney General, as a previous United States Senator for the great state of California, and now as Vice President, she has unmatched experience and capacity to lead our country for the next four years," Ruiz shared.

Locals also shared some of their mixed reaction to Kamala Harris' presidential run announcement.

"Praise God that Biden's out. I think it’s great and I hope that Trump wins," said Patricia Gibbs, a Yuma resident.

"It's been a very interesting last week, so I think it's probably in the best of interest for their party and from there we’ll see what’s going to happen. It seems like everything is changing from week to week," said John Pailliotet, another Yuma resident.

Locals and lawmakers both say they are interested to see who voters ultimately decide to pick this November.