The Democratic Party is soul-searching in the wake of last week’s stunning setbacks both in the presidential election and the down-ballot races.
A wave of incriminations and finger pointing is well underway, and more earnest autopsies of what went wrong and how to make corrections will soon commence.
Concurrent with those efforts are talks about who will steer the Democratic Party going forward, and looking down the road, which potential contenders may eventually make a bid to lead the party in the next presidential election.
While 2028 may seem like a long way away, recent history shows that the early moves in the next White House race start – well – very early.
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The unofficial starting gun for the 2024 race was fired by former President Donald Trump less than two months after leaving the White House, with a CPAC speech that teased his eventual 2024 presidential campaign.
A few weeks later, the first visits to the key early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire by potential GOP presidential contenders were also underway.
Fast-forward four years and expect similar actions by Democratic politicians who may harbor national ambitions. With the soon-to-be 82-year-old President Biden exiting the national stage, and Vice President Kamala Harris, in the wake of her sound defeat last week by Trump, retrenching, the road to the 2028 nomination appears wide open.
“The jockeying for 2028 took a brief pause when Harris became the nominee and looked to be in a strong position, which would have meant shutting out potential candidates for the next 4 to 8 years. Now, though, it’s wide open, and it won’t be long before we see clear maneuvering from a litany of candidates,” seasoned Democratic political strategist Chris Moyer told Fox News.
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Moyer, a veteran of a handful of presidential campaigns, noted that “this will include travel to states like New Hampshire and South Carolina and Nevada, presumably under the auspices of helping candidates in the midterms. Democratic voters in the early states will soon want to find someone they can get excited about and a future to look forward to in the midst of the misery of another four years of Trump in the White House. These potential candidates will be more than happy to oblige.”
The results of the 2026 midterm elections will have a major impact on the shape of the next White House race.
For now, however, here is an initial look at Democratic Party politicians considered to be potential 2028 presidential contenders.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of CaliforniaÂ
California Gov. Gavin Newsom was a top surrogate for President Biden during the president’s re-election bid. With the blessing of the White House, the two-term California governor debated then-Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year on Fox News.Â
Newsom’s travels on behalf of Biden brought him to New Hampshire and South Carolina, two crucial early voting states on the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar.
After the vice president, his friend and fellow Californian, replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, the governor continued – after a pause – his efforts to keep Trump from returning to the White House.
With Trump’s election victory last week, Newsom became one of the Democratic Party leaders getting ready to lead the opposition. The governor announced that California state lawmakers would meet to quickly take legislative action to counter Trump’s likely upcoming agenda.
The 57-year-old Newsom’s second term in Sacramento will finish at the end of next year, right around the time the 2028 presidential election will start to heat up.
Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois
Illinois Gov JB Pritzker, similar to Newsom, is already taking steps to Trump-proof his state.
“You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker told reporters of his efforts to protect Illinois.
Pritzker was also a high profile surrogate on behalf of Biden and then Harris during the 2024 cycle. Those efforts brought Pritzker to Nevada, a general election battleground state and an early voting Democratic presidential primary state, and New Hampshire.
However, before he makes any decision about 2028, the 59-year-old governor must decide if he will run in 2026 for a third term steering Illinois.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Two-term Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer grabbed plenty of attention and became a Democratic Party rising star in 2020 when she feuded with then-President Trump over COVID pandemic federal assistance and survived a foiled kidnapping attempt.
Trump, at the time, called her “that woman from Michigan.”
Along with Newsom and Pritzker, Whitmer’s name was floated as a possible replacement for Biden following his disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June, before the president endorsed Harris and the party instantly coalesced around the vice president.
Whitmer was a leading surrogate for Biden and then for Harris and made a big impression on Democratic activists during a stop this summer in New Hampshire on behalf of Harris.
The governor is term-limited and will leave office after the end of next year.
Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania
Gov. Josh Shapiro, the 51-year-old first-term governor of Pennsylvania, was on Harris’ short-list for vice presidential nominee.
Even though the vice president named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Shapiro remained a top surrogate on behalf of his party’s 2024 national ticket.Â
However, his two-day swing in New Hampshire during the final full week ahead of Election Day did raise some eyebrows and 2028 speculation.
After Harris lost battleground Pennsylvania to Trump, there was plenty of talk within the party that Harris had made the wrong choice for her running mate.
Shapiro, who has a track record of taking on the first Trump administration as Pennsylvania attorney general, is expected to play a similar role with the former president returning to the White House.
The governor will be up for re-election in 2026.
Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is considered by many to be another Democratic Party rising star.
The 46-year-old Army veteran, Rhodes Scholar and CEO of the charitable organization the Robin Hood Foundation during the coronavirus pandemic was elected two years ago.
Moore will be up for re-election in 2026.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who surpassed expectations during his 2020 Democratic presidential nomination run, was a very active surrogate on behalf of Biden and later Harris, during the 2024 cycle.
He helped raise a lot of money for the Democratic Party ticket, including heading a top-dollar fundraiser in New Hampshire.
The 42-year-old former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and former naval officer who served in the war in Afghanistan, is considered one of the party’s biggest and brightest stars. He was known as a top communicator for the administration, including making frequent appearances on Fox News.
Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky
The 46-year-old Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who was elected governor in 2019 and then re-elected in 2023 in red-state Kentucky, was also on Harris’ larger list for running mate.
Beshear served as Kentucky’s attorney general before running for governor.
Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia
Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, 55, will likely be a major player in Washington as the Democratic minority in the Senate fights back against the second Trump administration.
Warnock, who won Senate elections in 2020 and 2022 in battleground Georgia, served as senior pastor at the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.
He is up for re-election in the Senate in 2028.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, is considered one of the party’s most talented orators.
Thanks to his 2020 run, Booker made plenty of friends and allies in such early states as New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The senator is up for re-election in 2026.
Rep. Ro Khanna of California
Rep. Ro Khanna, 48, was a tireless surrogate on behalf of Biden and then Harris.Â
He has been a regular visitor to New Hampshire the past couple of years, including a high-profile debate last year against then-GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, 67, who is finishing up his eighth and final year as governor, took his name out of the Harris running mate speculation early in the process this summer.
Cooper served 16 years as North Carolina attorney general before winning election as governor.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, 65, is halfway through her second term steering New Mexico.
The governor, a former member of Congress, was a high-profile and busy surrogate on behalf of Harris during the final weeks of the 2024 campaign.
Vice President Kamala Harris
No list would be complete without including the vice president.
The 60-year-old Harris finishes up her term as vice president in just over two months, with no concrete plans for what’s next.
However, while the party wants to move on from the Biden/Harris era following Trump’s sweeping victory, and there is little history of Democrats yearning for past defeated presidential nominees, potential buyers’ remorse of a second Trump administration could boost Harris in the years to come.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz
The 60-year-old Minnesota governor has two years remaining in his second term in office.
While his energy and enthusiasm on the campaign trail the past three months impressed plenty of Democratic strategists, the final results of the election will make any potential future national run for Walz difficult.
