New Mexico Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich on Friday called on President Joe Biden to drop his 2024 re-election bid, becoming the third Democratic senator to urge Biden’s withdrawal from the race.

In a statement, Heinrich said that former President Donald Trump represented an “existential threat” to the country and that he believed Biden would not win in November. Heinrich joins Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in calling for Biden to step aside. 

“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,” Heinrich said. “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.”

Heinrich also claimed that Biden was “one of the most accomplished presidents in modern history.” 

“However, this moment in our nation’s history calls for a focus that is bigger than any one person. The return of Donald Trump to the White House poses an existential danger to our democracy. We must defeat him in November, and we need a candidate who can do that,” he said. 

Heinrich, who is running for re-election, is being challenged by Republican Nella Domenici, who raised a record $2.9 million in second-quarter fundraising from April to June 2024. The race is still considered safely Democratic as a Republican hasn’t won a U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico in more than two decades. 

On Thursday, Tester said that Biden needed to step away from the race because of his debate performance against Trump last month.

“We cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night,” he wrote, later adding that Biden needed to “reassess whether he is the best candidate to” take on Trump in the election.

A total of 27 House Democrats have demanded that Biden withdraw, including five more on Friday who said he should “pass the torch” to a different candidate. 

The Biden campaign has strongly resisted any calls to exit the race and said that he will be back on the campaign trail next week. 

“I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America: one where we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms, and create opportunity for everyone,” Biden said in a statement on Friday.

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