Refusal to leave office is rare, but not unheard of. In the past decade, presidents in democracies such as Moldova, Sri Lanka, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Gambia have refused to leave office, sometimes leading to bloodshed. In 2016, Joseph Kabila decided not to step down after three five-year terms as the president of Congo, announcing that he would delay the election for two years so that a census could be conducted. His decision was met with mass protests in which 50 people were killed by government security forces. Still, he followed through and an election took place in 2018. He left office thereafter.

Adam Serwer: The first days of the Trump regime

Elected officials in the U.S. have also refused to step down, albeit from lower offices than the presidency. In 1874, a Texas governor locked himself in the basement of the state capitol building after losing his reelection bid. The saga began when Republican Governor Edmund J. Davis lost the 1873 election by a resounding 2-to-1 ratio to his Democratic challenger, Richard Coke, and claimed that the election had been tainted with fraud and intimidation. A court case made its way to the state’s supreme court. All three justices, each of whom had been appointed by the incumbent Davis, ruled that the election was unconstitutional and invalid. Democrats called upon the public to disregard the court’s decision, and proceeded with plans for Coke’s inauguration. On January 15, 1874, Coke arrived at the state capitol with a sheriff’s posse, and was sworn in to office while Davis barricaded himself downstairs with state troopers. The next day, Davis requested federal troops from President Ulysses S. Grant. Grant refused, and Davis finally stepped down three days later.

Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, is one of progressives’ picks to be Joe Biden’s running mate in the Democratic presidential campaign.
2of3Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, is one of progressives’ picks to be Joe Biden’s running mate in the Democratic presidential campaign.Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner (left), shown with former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and activist Jim Hightower in 2018, is one of progressives’ picks to be Joe Biden’s running mate in the Democratic presidential campaign.


California Sen. Kamala Harris is widely believed to be on Joe Biden’s short list for vice president, but a group of Bernie Sanders supporters in the California Democratic Party wants the nominee-to-be to pick either Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee or one of two other Black women instead.

Lee, Los Angeles Rep. Karen Bass and Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator, would make excellent running mates, Sanders delegates to the Democratic National Convention wrote in a letter to Biden that was obtained by The Chronicle.

“In order to meet this historic moment, Democrats must select an exceptional progressive vice presidential candidate who will both inspire the 90 million Americans who did not vote in 2016 to cast a ballot this November and lead America into a new era of equality, compassion, and economic justice,” the Sanders backers wrote.

"Sen. Sanders on Biden-Sanders unity task force recommendations: “I think the compromise that they came up with, if implemented, will make Biden the most progressive president since FDR.”

President Trump trails likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden by ten points in Rasmussen Reports’ first weekly White House Watch survey for 2020.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds Biden earning 50% support among Likely U.S. Voters to Trump’s 40%. Six percent (6%) remain undecided.