Every Democrat Who Could Run for President in 2028

The day after the midterm elections this November, the 2028 race begins. There are already plenty of candidates positioning themselves to be the Democratic nominee to replace Trump. Here's what you should know about each of them. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, in her mind, she didn't have a real shot in 2024. She's looking at every poll in 2028 and sees that mostly she's ahead. In fact, she's way ahead with the most important constituency in the Democratic Party, and that is Black voters. She has played coy on whether or not she's actually going to run in 2028. People that have worked for her before are skeptical because in the words of one, she actually doesn't really like campaigning. Even many of Kamala Harris's former aides are skeptical she ultimately will run for president again. They believe that some of this being coy is really just a way of staying in the mix, a way of trying to, in the end, be a king or queen maker in 2028. There are many Democratic operatives and voters that don't want Kamala Harris to run again. They think that she represents the old establishment that voters have made very clear they do not want in power again. But in terms of name ID, in terms of gravitas with especially the key constituency in the Democratic primary, she is way ahead of every other potential contender. She's done this before, not just in 2019 in the Democratic primary, but as a general election candidate. And history shows that actually experience on the ticket does matter in terms of performance in the general election. Kamala's 2028 pitch will essentially come down to, I told you so. AOC has a pretty good start. She gets a lot of Bernie's voters, gets a lot of his money. She represents change both generationally and ideologically. AOC's pitch is basically Bernie's pitch, that the Democratic Party has left working class people behind and they need to significantly change their policies in order to win them back and create a working class coalition. The case against AOC that she's only 36, she's about to turn 37, and there are a lot of voters that are going to be uncertain about voting for somebody so young. She's a national figure, but she's actually untested in many ways in the national media environment. She does not do lengthy sit-downs with adversarial reporters who are going to push her. And many of the cases when she has, she has made potential gaffs that have haunted her ever since. When AOC is in control of her own media, she's potentially the best communicator in the Democratic Party. When she's not in control of her own media, she often makes mistakes. Gavin Newsom. Unlike most potential candidates, he's not scared to talk to anybody. Could be Charlie Kirk, could be a left winger, could be someone at Axios. Newsom's pitch is essentially strength. The Democrats need to be as ruthless and as tough as Republicans have been against Democrats in the Trump era. While a lot of Democrats shouted about Donald Trump, Gavin Newsom was also able to get concrete things done in order to oppose Donald Trump. If Democrats win back the House this year, Newsom will be a big part of it. But some Democrats simply think Newsom is too slick. He talks out both sides of his mouth. He's both too progressive and too close to tech companies. That could end up squeezing him in a Democratic primary. Pete Buttigieg, he's run for president before. There's a lot of people around him that want to do it again. Like Newsom, he's unafraid to go anywhere and talk to anybody. Unlike Newsom, he's welcomed by Democrats basically in any part of the country, no matter how red, conservative, liberal, left-wing. In Pete's mind, he thinks you need a president that has both insider knowledge and outsider knowledge. In order to fix the system, you need someone that actually understands how the sausage is made. He does have a thin resume. He's only been the mayor of South Bend and then transportation secretary. This is not the usual resume for a future president. He was also part of an administration that many Democrats want to forget that many Democrats blame for Trump's return. Buttigieg has also struggled with the most important constituency if you want to get the Democrat nomination, Black voters. Polls show those are the big four, but there are plenty of other Democrats already angling to make their own run for president. Josh Shapiro, for example, Pennsylvania governor likely to win a resounding reelection and what is likely to be the most key swing state in the 2028 election. Shapiro's slogan is get shit done. He is marketing himself as a competent technocrat that will actually make government work for people. Mark Kelly, senator from Arizona, former astronaut, has made it clear he is going to make a decision right after the election about running for president and Democrats across the country in swing districts, far left districts, far right districts have been welcoming him. He's making himself an avatar for sober, stable leadership. Wes Moore, Maryland's governor has also not been shy that he wants to have a role in 2028. He's charismatic, he has a compelling life story, and literally every Democrat I've talked to says he's very pretty. Wes Moore is trying to talk to people that want a fresh start with an optimistic form of leadership. Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff has made a name for himself this cycle as a chief Trump antagonist who is likely to win a resounding reelection in a key 2028 swing state. He and Sim have mastered the clipping economy with various viral video clips attacking Trump and various members of his administration. - I don’t know if you saw, but JD Vance was in Georgia this week. Don’t worry. No one showed up. Ossoff represents generational change, he's electable and he gives a pretty good speech. Andy Bashear, governor of Kentucky, will argue that he is the most electable Democrat of the 2028 field. Unlike most others, he is the only one that has won a significantly conservative state. Bashear talks about meeting voters where they are rather than pandering to liberal elites. Governor Pritzker of Illinois, a billionaire could self-fund his campaign and most Democratic insiders really like the guy. He could end up becoming a consensus candidate. Pritzker has scored progressive victories across Illinois and with billions of dollars at his disposal, he can try to ensure Democrats win up and down the ballot in 2028. And last up, Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and chief of staff to Barack Obama has established himself as a moderate Democrat who's making the case that the future of the Democratic Party is not in democratic socialism. With Ram, you'll have someone who's a moderate in policy, but a fighter in temperament. Now listen, there's a lot of time to go. Things will change, but these are the people you need to be paying attention to right now. We can do a deep dive on any and all of these people. Do you want that? Please say so in the comments below.