Pieces of the puzzle are beginning to come together for the Democratic Party and the 2028 presidential election as the party continues to recover from the disastrous 2024 landslide defeat of former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Many insiders now believe it’s time for the party to look outside the status quo as their best chance to defeat a Donald Trump successor in 2028.
A short list of potential Democratic hopefuls include liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has been outspoken with the state of the Democratic Party.
Nobody is leading the pack, but a couple of dark horses are beginning to make their proverbial moves, signaling for now who could be in the hunt for 2028.
According to an Associated Press report (AP), California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a two-day tour of South Carolina last Tuesday, calling on voters across rural areas — some tucked in GOP strongholds — to exercise their “moral authority” in standing up to Trump and Republicans in next year’s midterm elections.
Newsom’s foray into the state, which for years has held one of the earliest voting contests on the Democratic presidential primary calendar, serves as a strong signal that the governor of the most populous state is eyeing a 2028 White House bid.
Newsom spent last Tuesday in small towns across northeastern South Carolina, speaking to crowds in coffee shops and small businesses, shaking hands or posing for photos with scores of them.
In Florence, SC, Newsom focused his comments on what he said is the need to address the nation’s divisions by being intentional in having conversations with people of diverse viewpoints.
“I think it’s really important for Democrats that we spend time in parts of our states, parts of our country, that frankly, we haven’t spent enough time in, and so that’s why I’m here,” Newsom said.
In Mullins, Newsom arrived at another coffee shop nearly an hour late, a delay attributed to him stopping by an annual gathering of some 2,500 AME bishops. Newsom said the sermon left him “spellbound.”
Later last Tuesday afternoon in Bennettsville — where Democratic state Rep. Jason Luck said “no one remembers” the last time even the state’s own governor, let alone one from another state, visited — state Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain thanked Newsom for being “generous with his cash.” It was a nod to a recent fundraising email sent by the governor that Newsom said had raised $160,000 for the South Carolina party.
At each stop, Newsom called on Democrats to show their strength in next year’s midterm elections, a peg for potential national candidates to begin introducing themselves to voters in early primary states such as South Carolina. Increasing Democrats’ numbers in Congress, he argued in Bennettsville, would diminish Trump’s power, allowing Democrats to “leverage this country.”
In addition to Newsom, another Democratic challenger has begun to make his moves towards a potential 2028 nomination last week.
According to the Des Moines Register, Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego will make a stop through Iowa in August.
Gallego’s move that likely will generate presidential primary chatter for the Arizona Democrat as well as renewed buzz for Iowa, where some Democrats are eager to regain a foothold on the presidential nominating calendar.
Gallego will attend the Iowa State Fair Aug. 8 — a historically popular presidential campaign stop — and then travel to the Quad Cities Aug. 9 where he’ll attend a town hall in Scott County, his staff told the Des Moines Register.
That event will be co-hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
According to his staff, Gallego plans to speak directly to voters about the “disastrous budget bill” Republicans passed and President Donald Trump signed into law July 4.
“Like most Iowans, Ruben Gallego didn’t grow up having things handed to him — he had to work hard and pay his dues,” Gallego’s chief of staff, Raphael Chavez-Fernandez, said in a statement.
“That’s why he’s headed to the Hawkeye State to call out those who backed Trump’s billionaire tax scam at the expense of Iowa’s good, hard working people. Ruben’s not afraid to say the quiet part out loud: that Iowa families are getting screwed, and Iowans deserve leaders who will fight for them every single day.”
Gallego is seen as a viable opponent as he defeated MAGA Senator Kari Lake in 2024 to become Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator.
He is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party after winning a battleground state that Republican President Donald Trump also carried.