But in the weeks after President Biden turned in a disastrous debate performance against Donald J. Trump last month, Mr. Heinrich was among the Democrats privately panicking.
Polls showed New Mexico slipping into an expanding universe of potentially winnable states for the former president — foretelling an electoral disaster for Mr. Biden and trouble in the senator’s own re-election race.
So Mr. Biden’s decision last weekend to exit the race took a weight off the shoulders of Mr. Heinrich and other Democratic incumbents, who now describe a sense of hope and momentum overtaking the doom and gloom that had permeated their party since late June.
“Across the board — engagement, social media, anecdotal — everything feels different.
I feel better about the broad momentum.”
Persons:
Martin Heinrich, Biden, Donald J, Trump, Heinrich, — foretelling, Biden’s, ”, Nella Domenici, Pete Domenici
Organizations:
Republican, Senate, panicking, Democratic
Locations:
New Mexico, Mexico, “