Who could replace Biden if he withdraws from race?

WASHINGTON, United States — Joe Biden's withdrawal from the race for the White House is still a rather improbable scenario, but the rumor mill is pumping out myriad possibilities as to who could replace him atop the Democratic ticket.

Here is a look at the names being circulated:

She seems like the obvious choice.

US Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been a heartbeat away from the Oval Office since Biden's January 2021 swearing in, would be well positioned to be the Democratic Party's standard-bearer.

The 59-year-old Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, is a trailblazer.

She was the first Black person and the first woman to serve as California's attorney general, and then was the first US senator of South Asian descent.

She is now the first woman and first Black vice president.

During her career as a prosecutor, Harris had a reputation for being tough -- a trait she could use to advantage in a campaign expected to focus on crime and immigration.

Some progressive Democrats have been critical of her strict punishment of minor offenders, saying it disproportionately affected minorities.

Harris also suffers from a dismal approval rating, which could prompt Democrats to find another solution.

There is no rule that a running mate automatically replaces the presidential candidate in the case of a withdrawal. This is why California Governor Gavin Newsom's name keeps popping up.

The 56-year-old Democrat, a former mayor of San Francisco, has been at the helm of the Golden State -- the most populous in the United States -- for five years, and has made it a haven for abortion access.

So far, he has steadfastly supported Biden and dismissed talk of replacing him, saying in the wake of Biden's dreadful debate performance last week against Donald Trump that such "conversations" are "unhelpful to our democracy."

But Newsom has also made little secret of his own presidential ambitions.

In recent months, he has increased his international travel, run multiple ads touting his record, and invested millions of dollars in a political action committee, fueling speculation that he will run in 2028. So why not 2024?

Another possible Democratic candidate is