28 for ’28: The open presidential race field could reach more than two dozen candidates

President Donald Trump has dominated national politics for more than 11 years. Through Trump’s upset 2016 win and his two nonconsecutive terms, he has, for better or worse, transformed the tenor and complexion of American politics with a pugilistic, smash-mouth, attention-grabbing approach.

But Trump’s run atop the U.S. political scene will end after the November 2028 election to succeed him. And the 2028 field is wide open for both the Democratic and Republican nominations.

In the pre-Trump days, lists like this of presidential race prospects included candidate “lanes” among which to categorize favorites, longshots, and everything in between. That no longer applies. On the Democratic side, “fight” seems a key personality trait, combined with an increasingly left-wing ideological bent. At least a couple dozen Democrats are considering jumping in.

(Washington Examiner Illustration ; Getty Images)

Meanwhile, the GOP coalition’s post-Trump future is an open question. The race could mirror the Republican presidential contest of nearly 40 years ago. In the 1988 election cycle, when wonky but bland candidates like Rep. Jack Kemp of New York and former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont came up far short against incumbent Vice President George H.W. Bush, the eventual GOP nominee and future president. Today, Vice President JD Vance can hope for that sort of scenario.

So, at this point, roughly a year and a half before the first sets of primaries, caucuses, and other nominating contests, the fairest way to evaluate 2028 presidential candidates is alphabetically with a “28 for ‘28” list — in the spirit of ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series, which, starting in 2009, showcased 30 films created to commemorate the network’s 30th anniversary.

One other note. These kinds of lists are by definition subjective. With a few obvious inclusions, it’s reasonable to argue for or against listing someone or omitting their name. If you disagree with this list’s would-be candidates roster, keep an eye out for many more after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, when the 2028 presidential race will get going in earnest.

DEMOCRATS

Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY)

After searing losses against President Donald Trump by Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Kamala Harris eight years later, there’s a non-trivial element of the Democratic world pushing for the party to nominate a straight white guy in 2028. Fair or not, right or wrong, these pragmatists argue that’s the surest path for Team Blue’s White House return. It’s an argument bolstered by former President Joe Biden’s win in 2020, marking the only time Democrats have been able to beat Trump.

If this kind of thinking prevails in the Democratic nominating process, Beshear, 48, would seem a likely beneficiary. After all, he’s a country-drawled, twice-elected Democratic governor of a deep-red state that Trump won by 30 points in 2024.

Still, some wonder whether his success is replicable outside of Kentucky. Since he’s benefited greatly from the popularity of his father, a two-term governor from 2007 to 2015.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Booker, 57, would presumably apply some hard-earned lessons from his short-lived 2020 presidential race to a fresh bid in 2028. Back then, Booker scored endorsements from many bold-face political figures, but that hardly translated into on-the-ground support in early primary and caucus states. Booker ended his White House bid three weeks before the first voters were cast in the 2020 nomination race.

Lately, the former Newark mayor, who went to Stanford, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and then Yale Law School, has offered a positive message about the need for a “generational renewal” within the Democratic Party to move past intense left-right divisions. He also suggests that Democrats need to broaden their appeal and focus on positive goals.

At the same time, Booker has emerged as a strong anti-Trump voice. Known for his earlier message of “radical love,” Booker has adopted a more assertive tone. From March 31 to April 1, 2025, he delivered a 25-hour Senate floor speech, the longest in the Senate’s history. Booker, during the overnight episode, protested and criticized the initial actions of the second Trump administration.

Pete Buttigieg, former transportation secretary

Buttigieg has heavily hinted at a 2028 presidential run. With considerable residual support from his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, he is traveling the country to campaign for candidates in the midterm elections, building political capital in the process. Among other recent Buttigieg gigs was the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Liberty and Justice Celebration.

The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, now a Michigan resident, would likely have a different approach from the 2020 campaign — a nomination fight won by Biden on the way to his single-term presidency. Back then, Buttigieg was a political curiosity of sorts. He spent considerable time self-deprecatingly getting people to know who he was by pronouncing his Maltese-heritage last name.

At the time, the multilingual, piano-playing Navy Reserve intelligence officer, Harvard and Rhodes Scholar wunderkind, didn’t have executive experience beyond serving as mayor of a 104,000-person city. Now, though, Buttigieg can claim to be a seasoned manager of a federal department. And Buttigieg’s experience leading the Transportation Department in Biden’s administration has made him an unlikely critic of federal bureaucracy.

It’s an issue usually more in the Republican wheelhouse. But Buttigieg, 44, is putting a new spin on it after early 2025 Trump administration DOGE operations that seemed to haphazardly cut government jobs. Buttigieg argues that Democrats must fundamentally overhaul and reinvent the federal bureaucracy rather than just restore it to its previous state.

It’s a potential cornerstone of a new progressive philosophy on government reform. Though not necessarily the sexiest, crowd-rousing issue for a Trump-loathing Democratic Party base.

Rahm Emanuel, former Clinton White House senior adviser, Democratic House member, Obama White House chief of staff, Chicago mayor, and US ambassador to Japan

Emanuel seems to have started somewhat of a trend among likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidates: traveling to Israel and bashing the country while there. Though Emanuel’s foreign outing, delivering a speech at Tel Aviv University criticizing the current Israeli government, is mild next to a recent episode involving Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).

Emanuel has a much deeper background in Israel-related issues than Khanna and most other putative 2028 Democratic candidates. His father was born in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, and fought in the Irgun, a pre-state of Israel paramilitary group. During the early parts of the younger Emanuel’s long political career, he generally portrayed himself as a strong Israel supporter. Before Emanuel, 66, held any high government office, he was a civilian volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Gulf War, assisting at a base in northern Israel by helping to repair truck brakes.

In Emanuel’s July 8 speech at Tel Aviv University, he lambasted the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he had clashed as White House chief of staff during the early part of Barack Obama’s presidency.

“Your government is complicit in the horrors now being inflicted on innocent families in the West Bank,” he said. “That undermines your international legitimacy, as a small nation, at a time when you can least afford it.”

That’s rhetoric in line with a growing Israel-hostile ethos among Democrats. But hardly Emanuel’s only issue. In recent months, he’s positioned himself as a wokeness-skeptical can-do technocrat.

That, in a sense, differentiates Emanuel in a still-forming Democratic primary full of candidates brimming with denunciation and harsh criticism of Trump. Yet Emanuel, during a recent bike trip through the early primary state of New Hampshire and in other appearances, aimed to announce and promote an array of policy positions, not just spew hatred against Trump.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)

Gallego, a first-generation American, was a House member for 10 years before winning a Senate seat in 2024. Gallego outran Harris in Arizona, which she lost to Trump, by more than 93,000 votes.

The Harvard graduate and Marine Corps veteran is, in a sense, a Democratic political consultant’s dream for his life story and (at times) independent political streak. Born in Chicago to Hispanic immigrant parents, once in the political arena, he’s been willing to distance himself from mainstream Democratic opinion. Gallego, 46, voted for a high-profile Republican immigration bill, the Laken Riley Act. The then-proposal, named after a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia who was murdered in 2024 by an undocumented immigrant who had previously been cited for shoplifting, was signed into law by Trump on Jan. 29, 2025.

More recently, though, Gallego’s political acumen has come into question. In the spring, Gallego initially defended then-Rep. Eric Swalwell, at the time a close friend, against sexual misconduct allegations. As ugly details were revealed about the alleged behavior by Swalwell, a leading California gubernatorial candidate, Gallego sharply pivoted to condemn him. Gallego soon pulled his gubernatorial endorsement, stated Swalwell was “unfit” for Congress, and called on him to resign from Congress (which happened soon after).

More recently, Gallego backed then-Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner. Gallego later made a sharp pivot against a political ally. Gallego had stood by Platner, a fellow Marine combat veteran, throughout a series of early campaign controversies involving past Reddit posts and a Nazi-linked tattoo.

Gallego yanked his support immediately following a bombshell report by Politico detailing a 2021 sexual assault allegation against Platner. A Maine resident who previously dated Platner stated that he entered her home uninvited while severely intoxicated and forced her to have sex.

In the Platner situation, Gallego is hardly alone in his initial support among potential 2028 Democratic candidates. But Gallego’s double linkage with the disgraced Swalwell would likely be raised by Democratic primary rivals if he runs.

Gov. Josh Green (D-HI)

Green, 56, would face one of the biggest name ID deficits of any prospective 2028 Democratic primary candidate. Still, the emergency room physician has teased a 2028 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In a July 2025 NBC News interview at a National Governors Association meeting in Colorado, Green positioned himself as a “peacemaker” and “healer” of the severe divisions currently plaguing the nation’s political landscape.

Green, a Pittsburgh native, was elected Hawaii’s lieutenant governor in 2018 and then governor in 2022. Under his guidance, Hawaii implemented strict health measures that led to the lowest COVID-19 mortality rate and the highest vaccination rate in the United States.

Green is also among Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s most vocal critics in national politics. The pair have clashed regularly over public health, medical science, and vaccines.

Kamala Harris, former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee

There’s a long history of top draft picks by professional sports teams who enjoy their best days before taking the field. And then it’s all downhill from there.

The NFL’s No. 1 pick in 2007, JaMarcus Russell, played just three seasons with the Oakland Raiders before washing out of the league. NBA fans widely cite Anthony Bennett as the biggest draft bust. Taken first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2013 NBA Draft, Bennett famously struggled from Day 1, failing to score a field goal until his fifth game. He was out of the league after just four seasons with a career average of only 4.4 points per game.

It wouldn’t be fair to put Harris in the political version of this category. After all, her seemingly disastrous bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination ended with her being chosen as Joe Biden’s running mate. And then holding the understudy’s role for four years, making her a historical figure not just for being vice president, but the first woman in that office.

When Biden bowed out in July 2024 after a disastrous debate performance against Trump, Harris had the chance to be a political clutch player. But after a 107-day campaign, she lost to Trump, a reviled figure among Democrats.

So, with Harris considering a bid for the open 2028 Democratic nomination, it’s worth considering whether she’s the type of candidate whose best day is when they launch their campaign.

Harris, 61, is giving 2028 a hard look. Harris has said in interviews and public forums that she is “thinking about it.” The former San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, and senator from the Golden State has said elsewhere that her public service career is “not done.”

Of course, Harris supporters would point to polls showing her leading the Democratic presidential pack. Harris’s polling leads at this stage can’t be completely discounted. But surveys among Democratic primary voters also show a strong desire to move away from the Biden years. Combined with Harris’s scripted campaign style and the rise of leftist forces in the Democratic coalition, Harris would have a lot of competition for the party nod.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)

Kelly appears to be actively considering a run for president in 2028, elevating his national profile in this midterm election year. The retired Navy combat pilot and astronaut has garnered attention for his vocal opposition to the Trump administration and his extensive fundraising for the Democratic Party.

Kelly’s national standing has grown significantly following a clash with the Trump administration. Kelly, 62, and several other congressional Democrats who served in the military released a video advising active-duty service members of their legal duty to disobey unlawful orders. This prompted intense backlash and a subsequent legal battle with War Secretary Pete Hegseth, which ultimately elevated Kelly’s public profile and boosted his fundraising hauls.

One sign of Kelly’s seriousness about a presidential bid is in an area sure to grab the attention of 2026 candidates, who could be helpful down the line: money. Kelly has a “political treasury of nearly $25 million across his federal accounts, emerging as one of the Democratic Party’s top fund-raisers and donors in recent months as he considers a potential presidential run,” the New York Times reported July 15.

“In addition to that war chest, Mr. Kelly’s political team said he had now raised and given away a combined $10 million to other Democratic candidates and party committees ahead of the 2026 elections,” the news outlet added.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA)

Nobody has been elected president directly from the House since Republican James A. Garfield in 1880 (and it’s often forgotten he was a senator-elect at the time, having been tapped by Ohio’s state legislature in the pre-17th Amendment days).

Despite the long odds, Khanna has, for years now, positioned himself as a national figure. Representing Silicon Valley, Khanna has transformed his image as a tech industry veteran and booster in Congress to being a high-profile supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the socialist’s bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Khanna, 49, is now actively considering a 2028 presidential run himself. He’s ubiquitous on cable television, including becoming, over the past year-plus, implacably hostile to Israel. Brushing off any concerns about Israel’s need for self-defense after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks claimed more than 1,200 lives and took 251 people hostage, nearly two years later, he accused the country of genocide in Gaza. That’s now a standard talking point on the populist far-Left.

Khanna is now using the 2026 midterm election campaign stops to lay the groundwork for a potential run. He’s traveling to key states, building a national profile, and formulating a distinct populist platform. He’s focused on rebuilding U.S. manufacturing and retooling the country for the artificial intelligence and technological era.

Beyond political proposals, Khanna can point to his bipartisan work with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to win at least some measure of justice for victims of the late financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. They co-authored the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, which forced the Department of Justice to release millions of previously sealed investigative documents.

Yet Khanna’s image took a hit with his deep and persistent support of Platner’s Maine Senate candidacy. Khanna, arguably more than any other national Democrat, stood by Platner even as allegations and controversies mounted. The rape allegation against Platner by Maine resident Jenny Racicot finally turned Khanna against the candidate.

“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” he posted on social media roughly two hours after the Politico story was published. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out of the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD)

Moore would seem a natural for the 2028 race on his resume alone. Among his achievements: Rhodes Scholar, Afghanistan War veteran, bestselling author, and CEO of a large anti-poverty foundation, with Wall Street stints in between.

Throw in a charismatic personality and memorable stump style on the campaign trail, and a presidential bid by Moore, 47, seems logical. Plus, he’s only the third black person to win a gubernatorial election since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era.

Moore, amid a 2026 reelection bid that he’s expected to win easily, consistently rules out a 2028 presidential bid. But plenty of prior presidential candidates have changed their minds. And Moore’s summer travel schedule tells a different story. He recently appeared in Georgia, Nevada, and South Carolina to stump for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. Helping to build his national profile if he has a national campaign on the near-term horizon.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Murphy is a cable news regular whose increasingly sharp, populist critique of the political system has endeared him to an increasingly restive Democratic base. He’s also shown decent political chops, having won a House seat in 2006 by beating a GOP incumbent and then moving up to the Senate six years later.

Once known primarily for leading bipartisan gun-control legislation, Murphy, 53, has pivoted heavily toward economic populism. He is aggressively urging Democrats to take on corporate monopolies and fight what he calls wealth inequality.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)

Newsom recently made plain his presidential ambitions in an unlikely way, denouncing a Justice Department investigation.

Newsom said at a June 15 news conference that Trump is “coming after me because I’m considering running for president.”

Newsom, a Democrat, did not specify exactly what the Department of Justice was allegedly investigating him for, but he indicated his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is among the targets.

The warning by Newsom may play well into concerns by many Democrats about the politicization of federal law enforcement. Meanwhile, Newsom, 58, is using the final months of his two-term governorship to help Democratic candidates around the country.

He recently spent three days in neighboring Nevada, campaigning for, among others, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) and the Silver State’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Attorney General Aaron Ford. Newsom told reporters on July 11 that he would be campaigning for other Democrats through November, with a particular focus on the South and voting rights.

At this point, it would be more of a surprise if Newsom didn’t run in 2028 than if he did. He’s been seemingly preparing for it through his decadeslong rise as San Francisco mayor and California lieutenant governor. Newsom’s Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, published in February, only bolstered the notion he’ll join the 2028 presidential fray.

“Once a pro-business moderate, at least by San Francisco standards, Newsom moved leftward as the state evolved in the Donald Trump era,” noted the 2026 Almanac of American Politics. “With the departure of President Joe Biden and the 2024 presidential loss of Vice President Kamala Harris, Newsom became a top-tier potential White House aspirant.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)

Among potential 2028 Democrats, AOC gets an outsized share of attention. In a sense, it would be a logical political step for her to go national (or at least try) with the socialist agenda given voice by the election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and a wave of Democratic Socialists of America-backed victories in New York and Colorado.

Yet these analyses often overlook whether there’s really much appetite in a general election for such a far-left, anti-Israel agenda beyond deep blue precincts in big cities. The congresswoman, after all, broadly opposes the idea that markets should decide who gets healthcare, housing, childcare, or power at work, with the government deciding instead. That’s a dicey approach in national politics.

The “Squad” congresswoman’s politics are simply too far-left for Democratic presidential primary voters, who have historically backed more centrist candidates, veteran political strategist James Carville said in a “Greta Wire” podcast aired on July 16. He alluded to the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination of Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota, often seen as the apex of liberalism in modern White House politics. Even back then, the party passed over even more left-wing candidates like Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York, who ran as a champion for the working class, women’s rights, anti-militarism, and expanded government-funded social welfare.

“The Democrats — not even in ’72 — never nominate the most liberal candidate,” Carville told podcast host Greta Van Susteren. “But that’s the fantasy of the right wing, that the Democrats are going to nominate a socialist, urbanist, whatever.”

Carville, an architect of former President Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 White House bid, doubted Ocasio-Cortez would even attempt a presidential run.

“She’s not going to run for president because she’s not going to have any chance,” Carville added. He noted that black voters in southern states, like South Carolina, play an outsized role in determining the party’s nominee because of the Democratic presidential primary calendar.

“Remember who decides who the Democratic nominee is, and that is Southern blacks,” Carville said. “And I’ve got news for you: They’re not that liberal.”

One thing Ocasio-Cortez, 36, would bring to a presidential race is strong tactical instincts. She won her Queens-and-Bronx-based seat in 2018 by beating a member of the House Democratic leadership. Once ensconced in Congress, she’s been able to work inside channels at times to move legislation forward while keeping her anti-establishment image. And most recently, she bucked the trend of congressional Democrats who endorsed Platner despite multiple warning signs over his past behavior with women and a Nazi-image tattoo.

Ocasio-Cortez also has proven to be a Democratic fundraising juggernaut. In the year’s second quarter, she raised $1.5 million for her campaign. With a whopping $15 million cash on hand, which could be used in a presidential race.

Her congressional campaign manager also announced that the New York lawmaker raised $4.87 million across all her accounts from over 138,000 individual donors. By the second quarter of 2025, she had raised $15.4 million more than any other House member.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)

No candidate facing reelection arguably has a bigger political make-or-break moment this year than Ossoff. If Ossoff wins a second Senate term, he’ll instantly join the ranks of realistic 2028 Democratic presidential contenders. If Ossoff loses against Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), the GOP Georgia Senate nominee, he’ll be just another one-term former senator.

Ossoff, now 39, entered Congress in January 2021 as the youngest senator in nearly half a century. The former documentary film executive had first risen to national political prominence in 2017 in a closely watched special House election in the Atlanta suburbs. That contest marked the first measure of blowback against Trump after his 2016 shock election. Ossoff came up short in that House race. But he established enough name recognition across Georgia, an increasingly politically competitive state after years as a Republican bastion, that he beat a GOP Senate incumbent in the 2020 election cycle — while Trump lost the Peach State.

Ossoff of late has attracted attention from campaign speech clips lambasting Collins, whom the senator has repeatedly accused of corruption. Ossoff added that “a wave is building” against the Trump administration heading into November.

“The kind of wave that comes once a generation when people have been pushed too far, and they decide all at once, all together, that enough is enough,” Ossoff said. “We have the power not just to restore checks and balances, but to rebuke these abuses of power with such power and decision that no president dares try anything like this again for a century.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL)

Pritzker would have one immediate advantage in a 2028 presidential bid: money, and lots of it.

Pritzker is a billionaire who completely self-funded his past gubernatorial races. Yet ahead of a likely presidential run, Pritzker is reportedly looking to raise massive amounts of money, in part to show there’s genuine grassroots support for his candidacy.

A fierce Trump critic, Pritzker, 61, has spent months actively laying the groundwork for a potential 2028 presidential bid. He is also running for a third term as governor while traveling to early primary states like New Hampshire to raise his national profile.

Pritzker’s policy record falls squarely in the progressive camp. He is a strong supporter of abortion rights and gun control. He has also frequently clashed with the Trump administration over immigration raids and the use of the National Guard, making him one of the most vocal anti-Trump governors in the country.

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA)

After a steady rise through Pennsylvania Democratic politics, Shapiro was elected governor in 2022 and is on track to win his reelection bid this year handily. In office, Shapiro, 53, earned plaudits for leading a rapid recovery from a bridge collapse in Philadelphia.

He was widely reported to have been runner-up in the race to join Kamala Harris’s 2024 Democratic ticket. Looking ahead to 2028, though, it’s an open question whether Shapiro’s relatively pragmatic voice within the Democratic Party would appeal to its increasingly left-wing primary and caucus voters.

Shapiro clearly has been giving the issue considerable thought. He recently predicted Democrats will have to reckon with an ideological “battle” in light of the growing influence of the Democratic Socialists of America. 

In a July 5 CNN interview, Shapiro predicted that Democrats will soon face a “battle” over the rising influence of socialists in the party. The governor also distanced himself from the expanding roster of left-wing candidates, some of whom have won key Democratic primaries and are virtually assured of being House members starting Jan. 3, 2027. Among them are New York Democratic congressional nominees Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and in Colorado, Melat Kiros.

Shapiro cited “profound differences” with Chevalier, a socialist endorsed by Mamdani. Chevalier once posted on social media, “I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me.” She’s also posted sympathetic references to communism, Marxist ideology, and Soviet figures, including Vladimir Lenin. And she’s called to abolish police, prisons, and borders. 

“She’s not someone whom I would seemingly agree with on many things or that we share similar values,” Shapiro said. “She ran on the Democratic ticket, I guess, as a socialist.”

Which faction emerges prominent in the 2028 Democratic nomination fight remains to be seen. Though Democratic political energy, at least during this early stage, seems more with the socialists than with Shapiro.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI)

Slotkin has shown serious political chops in her nearly eight-year congressional career. In 2018, she beat an incumbent House Republican to claim a longtime swing district based in Lansing. Six years later, she nabbed a Michigan Senate seat while Trump won the state in his White House comeback. Her margin of victory over Republican rival Mike Rogers, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, was a scant 48.64% to 48.30%.

The 2026 Almanac of American Politics attributed Slotkin’s narrow win to “her national security background — she is a former CIA analyst who worked in both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations — combined with the centrist niche she carved out in Congress and her fundraising prowess.”

Slotkin’s prominence rose soon after joining the Senate when she was chosen in March 2025 to give the rebuttal to Trump’s joint address to Congress. Not surprisingly, White House chatter has followed.

Slotkin, 50, has been less coy about her White House ambitions than other potential 2028 candidates. Positioning herself as a pragmatic, Upper Midwest-focused voice to help guide the Democratic Party out of its recent political wilderness, Slotkin said in a recent interview she “wouldn’t rule out” a 2028 White House bid.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

Van Hollen, too, isn’t hiding his White House ambitions.

The high-profile critic of Trump’s foreign policy said he is “kicking the tires” on a 2028 presidential bid. In doing so, Van Hollen, 67, said he would push for “dramatic change” in Washington.

“If you are asking me whether I think Democrats need to shake things up, you bet I do,” Van Hollen said in a June 17 NOTUS podcast appearance. “It’s pretty clear that operating from within the confines of the halls of Congress is not a successful recipe for actually getting change.”

Van Hollen at first blush doesn’t scream Washington outsider or seem like an anti-establishment figure.

“Van Hollen was born in Pakistan during his father’s stint as a Foreign Service officer there; his mother later served as chief of the South Asia division of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research,” noted the Almanac.

A graduate of Swarthmore College, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and Georgetown Law School, Van Hollen later won a series of tough political races to rise from the state legislature, the House for 14 years, and the Senate in the 2016 election.

During Van Hollen’s decade in the Senate, he’s been a staunch Trump foe, and he has grown increasingly critical of Israel. It’s ironic since he won the 2016 Maryland Democratic primary — tantamount to election in the deep blue state — boasting of his pro-Israel credentials when running against an Israel-hostile rival.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA)

Ossoff isn’t the only Georgia Democratic senator in the 2028 presidential mix. Warnock has been mentioned as national political timber since winning his Senate seat the same day as Ossoff, in a pair of January 2021 runoffs.

Warnock, 56, had never run for office before the 2020 election cycle. But he occupied a historic Atlanta perch for more than 15 years as the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. There he preached from the same pulpit as Martin Luther King Jr. once did.

Warnock hasn’t exactly stoked 2028 speculation, nor has he sought to dampen it. This year, he’s traveling across battleground states like Minnesota and Nevada to stump for candidates. He has also been frequenting the national media circuit to promote his recent book, The Crooked Places Made Straight.

REPUBLICANS

Gov. Mike Braun (R-IN)

Mike who?

It’s a reasonable question when compared to would-be GOP candidates with national platforms. Yet Braun has at least made himself part of the 2028 White House conversation since forgoing reelection to the Senate in 2024, in what would have been effectively a lifetime seat, to run for and win Indiana’s governorship. Indiana governors are limited to serving eight years in any 12 years, effectively restricting them to two consecutive four-year terms.

That executive branch role befits Braun’s successful and lucrative business career. Braun, 72, with a Harvard Business School MBA, transformed his father’s struggling Indiana truck body shop into Meyer Distributing, a massive national logistics and auto parts company. Today, Braun is one of Indiana’s largest landowners, with 6,000 acres of land across nine counties, per the 2026 Almanac of American Politics.

Now, though less-known nationally than several putative rivals for the 2028 Republican nomination, Braun is making moves that could endear himself to a post-Trump GOP electorate. He sided with the Trump political operation in its effort to redraw Indiana’s House map, with the intent of increasing Republican representation in the Hoosier State’s D.C. delegation from its current 7-2 edge over Democrats to a 9-0 shutout. The Republican-led state Senate rejected the move, but several recalcitrant incumbent lawmakers lost in GOP primaries. The redistricting episode put Braun on the right side of Trump and the president’s MAGA base in a key political matter.

Then there’s the possibility of a Chicago Bears move to Hammond, Indiana, which sits on Lake Michigan along the Illinois state line and Chicago municipal boundary. He recently signed legislation creating the funding framework for a multibillion-dollar stadium and has actively declared the stadium deal to be “in the red zone”. If the iconic NFL team does move east across state lines, Braun would have serious bragging rights about a “can-do” approach to government. And may catch the eye not just of political junkies but sports fans, too.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

The Senate Commerce Committee chairman routinely deflects questions about a 2028 presidential bid. Yet he seems to be keeping his options open a decade after running for president, when he finished second to Trump in the GOP primaries after a bruising race.

Cruz, 55, was once known for a hard-charging, take-no-prisoners political style. Cruz, though, has taken a more statesman-like approach as chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. There, he’s worked with the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who is spearheading legislation to address concerns about college sports. Their Protect College Sports Act would, among other things, limit players to one transfer without losing any eligibility, cap how much money schools can spend on rosters, grant the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption, and prohibit schools from breaking away from the NCAA and creating a “super league.”

Regarding Trump, Cruz at times has offered carefully calibrated criticism of the administration’s agenda. For instance, he has vocally opposed a potential Iran deal. And broken with the administration on some tariff policies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)

Time will tell if DeSantis hit his peak as an early 2020s anti-woke warrior or whether he still has a plausible path to the presidency.

The Yale- and Harvard Law-educated governor had a quick ascent in politics, winning a north-central Florida coastal House seat in 2012 and rocketing to Florida’s governorship in 2018 on the strength of Trump’s endorsement.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis drew national attention for Florida’s light or nonexistent coronavirus restrictions, with an emphasis on reopening the economy.

The national spotlight stayed on DeSantis, 47, as he pushed conservative stances on education, immigration, and abortion, while taking on one of Florida’s major employers, the Walt Disney Co., for being “woke.”

But DeSantis’s bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination fell flat. Trump won easily, perhaps an inevitable result, and reclaimed the White House that fall.

The loss punctured DeSantis’s aura of inevitability, both nationally and back home. Republican state legislators, who once jumped at DeSantis’s every move, started pushing back on his agenda.

Now that an open nomination race is approaching, DeSantis could take another shot. He would be able to talk up conservative achievements in Tallahassee, even if the past couple of years were more difficult than the early and middle parts of his governorship.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)

There’s a small club of Republican senators with sterling academic credentials who run for president or frequently get mentioned as White House material. Along with Cruz (Princeton and Harvard Law), there’s Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), an alum of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. And Hawley, who went to Stanford and Yale Law School (Extended family would have to include DeSantis and former GOP Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, whose degrees include Harvard and a Ph.D. in history from Yale.)

White House chatter about Hawley, 46, began almost immediately after the then-Missouri attorney general beat an incumbent Democratic senator in 2018. In recent years, with Trump both in and out of the presidency, Hawley has crafted his own version of Republican populism.

Notably, on some issues, he rejects Republicans’ long-standing free-market approach in favor of what’s been called “common good conservatism.” Early in 2025, Hawley opposed GOP proposals to cut Medicaid funding as the Senate and House worked to push forward Trump’s legislative agenda, an effort that would culminate in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Hawley has also pushed what he’s called a framework for “pro-worker” legislation. And he’s introduced legislation with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to cap credit card interest rate charges at 10%.

Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA)

When Kemp declined to run for the 2026 Republican Senate nomination to challenge Ossoff, many saw the demurral as a sign the governor had his eyes on the White House.

Kemp, 62, hasn’t ruled out a White House bid. But like many potential candidates, he maintains his focus is on helping Republican candidates win in the 2026 midterm elections.

Unlike would-be 2028 rivals, Kemp wouldn’t have to constantly show fealty to Trump — since he’s bucked the president before and lived to tell about it.

In 2018, Kemp, having recently stepped down as Georgia secretary of state, narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in 2018, with Trump’s support. Yet when Trump lost Georgia in his 2020 reelection bid, he lashed out at Kemp for certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

Two years later, Trump, temporarily out of office, fomented a primary challenge against Kemp that fizzled badly. That same year, Kemp easily won reelection as governor in a rematch against Abrams.

Kemp is “someone who has [been] seen as a conservative Republican, governed as a conservative in Georgia, stood up to Trump,” said former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican ally-turned-fierce critic, in a mid-July podcast appearance with California’s Democratic governor and likely 2028 presidential candidate, “This is Gavin Newsom.”

“Brian may be the only person who hasn’t kowtowed to him,” said Christie, who lost Republican presidential primary bids to Trump in 2016 and 2024.

“The thing that makes Kemp unique, if he decides he wants to do it, is that he has those two elements at the same time,” Christie added. “He can say, ‘Not only did I support him when I thought he was doing the right thing.’ But when he came after me, and did things I thought would have been wrong for the people of Georgia, I not only stood up to him, I beat him.”

This year, though, Kemp saw his political brand scuffed, at least a bit, when his preferred Senate candidate lost in the Republican primary. How much, if at all, that hurts him in a national race is an open question.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)

Massie is a short-timer in the House. He lost renomination to Republican congressman-in-waiting Ed Gallrein in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, which covers the Bluegrass suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, and more rural areas. But Massie, 55, may not be done with national politics.

Massie could, among other things, be a leading voice in the 2028 Republican presidential race, decrying a Trump-era shift away from free markets to a more interventionist government that promotes domestic industry.

After all, the Trump administration over the past year has made deals to acquire equity stakes in more than two dozen firms. It’s an unusual practice for a Republican president, to say the least. One that has extended the government’s influence over industries including semiconductors, nuclear energy, minerals, quantum computers, and steel.

Following his primary defeat by Trump-backed Gallrein, Massie filed FEC paperwork for a 2028 congressional race. But any money he raises could be used for another federal race, such as a presidential bid. It’s a race to which Massie would bring relatively unique stances in the current Republican coalition, including on federal spending, foreign policy, and government transparency.

Massie’s libertarian instincts have long been at odds with Trump’s more statist approach. Massie’s push to declassify Epstein-related files helped sour the Trump White House on him, and his criticisms of the Iran war only pushed him further away from the Trump crowd.

How much of an appetite there would be for Massie’s issue set in the 2028 Republican primary field is questionable. But as Washington Examiner magazine executive editor W. James Antle III recently noted, Massie shouldn’t be counted out.

“Some of the things that were a liability for Massie in a House primary could potentially be an asset in a protest presidential candidacy,” Antle wrote. “Massie posted strong numbers with younger Republicans, who might be more helpful as grassroots muscle behind a national campaign than in outvoting conservatives over age 60 in a midterm primary election.”

“Massie’s positioning on Israel and Trump would still probably put a ceiling on how well he could do in the Republican presidential primaries,” Antle continued. “But he could press Vice President JD Vance, who reportedly had misgivings about the Iran war, on foreign policy and challenge pretty much anyone else who could conceivably run for the 2028 nomination on government spending and the national debt.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Rubio is widely considered a leading contender for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. He’s polling roughly neck-and-neck with Vance, though any such surveys at this point in the election cycle are of limited utility. Still, continued political-class chatter about a Rubio run, and residual support from prominent GOP donors who have contributed to his past campaigns, suggest he could at least give the race a hard look.

Rubio, who wears dual foreign policy hats in the Trump administration as secretary of state and acting national security advisor, hasn’t even hinted at a 2028 presidential run. That’s not surprising, since Rubio, 55, would want to appear focused on his official duties, not a two-year-off campaign.

Yet few past presidential candidates fully give up White House hopes. Rubio famously clashed with Trump during the 2016 GOP presidential primary season. Rubio lost the nod to Trump and returned to the Senate, where he spent 14 years representing Florida.

Now in the executive branch — though in a different role than Rubio imagined a decade ago — he and his most likely rival, Vance, don’t always march in lockstep. The pair reportedly differed during internal deliberations about the June 17 memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.

Vance negotiated the deal with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Vance, who made his name politically as a non-interventionist, reportedly thought Trump should sign off to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and stabilize the economy ahead of the midterms.

Rubio, per reports at the time, was skeptical of the MOU and the chances it could lead to a comprehensive nuclear deal, along with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

This kind of foreign policy rift might be ancient history by the 2028 Republican primaries. Or, depending on how events play out in Iran and the Persian Gulf, it could make Rubio appear prophetic. He could also seem short-sighted. The same, of course, goes for Vance.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL)

Scott hasn’t shown overt interest publicly in a 2028 bid, but recent moves suggest he wants to keep in the political limelight.

It began when Scott recently invited Trump to address Senate Republicans without the consent of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). Then Scott circulated a letter outlining how he thought the Senate Republicans should be preparing for the November midterms.

The White House would seem the next logical political ambition for the 73-year-old Scott, having held top offices in America’s third-most populous state for 15-plus years. The conservative former healthcare CEO used his huge personal fortune in races to successfully persuade voters several times. They first backed him for the Florida governorship in 2010 and 2014, and then for an initial Senate run, which he won in 2018. Though each of those statewide political wins was by narrow margins, in Scott’s 2024 Senate reelection bid, Florida voters rewarded him with a 13-point victory against his Democratic rival.

Vice President JD Vance

History looks both favorably and dimly on Vance’s chances of winning the presidency in 2028. Assuming that Vance runs, a topic about which he’s been coy as a (distant) understudy to Trump.

Twenty-two of the 50 vice presidents have sought the presidency. Six won election to the top job. And only two got straight-up promotions when they were sitting vice presidents: Martin Van Buren in 1836 and George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Vance’s vice presidential predecessor, Kamala Harris, shows the innate difficulty of the task. In her losing 2024 bid against Trump — with Vance at the bottom of the GOP ticket — she had a tough time distancing herself from an unpopular boss, then-President Joe Biden.

Vance, 42, could face similar troubles in a 2028 bid. If, as polls and other factors indicate, Democrats have a strong 2026 midterm election, winning control of the House and possibly the Senate.

To be sure, political precedents concerning the challenges of VP-to-White House efforts go so far. Harris was a substitute candidate for Biden once he dropped out after a memorably desultory debate performance against Trump. Vance is Trump’s second vice president, after Mike Pence from 2017 to 2021. That’s a big difference from Bush 41, who had nearly two terms under his belt as Ronald Reagan’s vice president, or even losing presidential nominees who were wrapping up eight years as vice president, like Republican Richard Nixon in 1960 and Democrat Al Gore 40 years later.

Should there be a contested Republican 2028 primary season — still a big “if” at this point — Vance would be in a position to draw clear distinctions from GOP rivals. If Rubio jumps in, Vance might point to their differing roles in negotiating the Iran MOU.

One corollary to the Iran talks is the fate of Lebanon. Iranian terrorist proxy Hezbollah has long launched attacks on Israel from Lebanese soil, and Iran has sought to link that conflict to its broader fight against the U.S.

BILL MAHER SAYS ‘YES’ HE COULD SEE HIMSELF VOTING FOR VANCE IN 2028

Rubio has worked for months to seal an agreement between the Israeli and Lebanese governments to clamp down on Hezbollah and give Israel enough confidence in security arrangements to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon. Vance has seemingly accommodated Iran’s insistence that the wars be linked.

The ensuing situation showed the U.S. negotiating with one country on two different tracks, led by two men with significantly different styles and worldviews who also happen to be the highest-profile potential candidates to succeed Trump.

David Mark (@DavidMarkDC) is the managing editor of the Washington Examiner magazine.

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