President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his 2024 presidential reelection campaign headquarters will be based in Wilmington, Delaware.
Here are some facts to know about Wilmington, Delaware:
Biden chose his hometown versus Philadelphia
Instead of choosing Philadelphia — the city that helped him clinch the 2020 election, Biden has chosen to go with his hometown.
“My family’s values, my eternal optimism and my unwavering belief in the American middle class as our nation’s backbone comes from my home – from Delaware,” Biden said in a statement. “That’s why there is no better place for our reelection campaign to have its headquarters. This election will be about standing up for those values.”
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Biden had launched his presidential campaign in Philadelphia back in four years back. However, Wilmington became his informal headquarters with the onset of the pandemic. Delaware ended up hosting the announcement of Vice President Kamala Harris as Biden’s running mate. It also hosted the Democratic National Convention.
Wilmington is the smallest city to host a presidential campaign in 30 years
With only a population of 70,000 people, Wilmington is the smallest city to host a presidential campaign in 30 years. Biden staffers expected to start working out of Delaware as early as next week. As a result, downtown Wilmington will become the hotspot for press coverage, tourists and other election officials.
Biden has a strong emotional connection to Wilmington
Wilmington is a city where Biden’s political ideology was formed. It is also a place that serves as the final resting place for his two children and first wife. It is a city from where he took the train home every night when he represented the state in the U.S. Senate for decades.
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He still has an oceanfront home in Rehoboth Beach where Biden regularly travels to, to visit his grandchildren.
Some Democrats remain unhappy about Biden’s HQ pick
Not all Democrats are on board with Biden’s HQ pick. Kate Bedingfield, former White House communications director for the Biden Administration, said Wilmington was always an option for campaign headquarters and was also talked about in 2020.
“It was a very spirited debate between Wilmington and Philadelphia four years ago so it feels very meaningful that he’s now going to have the opportunity to headquarter the reelect in Wilmington,” she said. “Having the campaign headquartered in Wilmington is reinforcing a really fundamental piece of what the president believes that public service is all about, which is … serving the families that he raised his kids alongside in Wilmington, Delaware.”