TOLEDO, Ohio — There was an historic shakeup in the race for the presidency on Sunday.
President Joe Biden announced before 2pm that he is withdrawing from the race just four months from the election.
Biden later endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him.
The news sent shockwaves across the country.
Officials across Ohio shared their take on the news.
For the first time in more than five decades, A president made the decision to withdraw from running for another term.
The last time it happened was in 1968, that's when President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced he would not be seeking reelection.
Local leaders from both the Lucas County Democratic Party and Sandusky County Republican Party say this day will definitely not be forgotten.
"I wasn't expecting it to happen today. So it's just a little shocking," said Carrie Hartman, Executive Director, Lucas County Democratic Party. "And honestly, for me, a little sad. I really love Joe Biden."
Justin C Smith, Chairman, Sandusky County Republican Party, took a different view.
"I'm excited as a student of history, I find this very exciting, very fascinating to watch. So not only am I enjoying doing the campaign things, I got to admit today has been a very exciting day just to watch the history and the mystery of it," said Smith.
Both Hartman and Smith say they are hopeful for their respective parties as the general election heats up.
Both share who they think might be the lead candidate on the Democratic Party ticket.
"I think Kamala Harris being a woman of color and being a west coast Californian, I think to balance the ticket. It would be really great to see somebody from the Midwest," said Hartman.
Although Harris is the presumed candidate after the president's endorsement, her nomination is not assured.
"I predict, I would assume Vice President Harris will be the nominee, but in this historical year, who knows?," said Smith. "Who knows who the nominee will be? I'm not counting anything. So we don't know who we're up against, but we're just going to keep doing what we're doing."
Both the Democrats and Republicans are optimistic about what's next and the plans moving forward."
The excitement is there. The base is motivated. We don't know who we're going to be up against, but what we're going to do is just focus on our nominee and wait and see and watch who they, who they end up choosing," said Smith.
Hartman says it's time to look forward.
"So it's, it's a bittersweet day because it is so sad to see Joe Biden step out, but it's a very exciting day and a new day for the Democratic Party," said Hartman.
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