by Frank Holmes, reporter
The 2024 race is so recent that some congressional races have been called this week—but politicians are already getting themselves into position for the 2028 race.
President Donald Trump cannot run for a third term as president. No one knows how popular Vice President J.D. Vance will be, or if he’ll get the nomination, as neoconservatives like Nikki Haley vie to wrestle the nomination out of his hands.
But the real action is on the Democratic side, as a small army of potential candidates jockey, elbow, clamor, fundraise, organize, and grandstand for as much free media coverage as possible over the next four years.
It’s not even four weeks after the last presidential race, and the next one has already begun. Here are the players to watch, and the state of play.
The biggest name on the Left is Vice President Kamala Harris.
The candidate of “joy” went down in flames in an Electoral College landslide—and became the first Democrat in 20 years to lose the popular vote, yet she believes she could be the candidate to beat in 2028.
Harris laid down her marker even as she gave her concession speech earlier this month.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris said on the campus of her alma mater, Howard University, at what she expected to be a victory rally.
Insiders say she plans to keep her name in the news, possibly running for governor of California to give her a perch, and relevance, ahead of the primaries.
California is also the only state where she’s won an election.
Speaking of California governors, current Golden State Gavin Newsom (D) said he is “ready to fight” against Trump. He called a special session of his state legislature, the General Assembly, to get laws in place ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
Formally, he said, he aimed to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.”
But in politics, everything has a secret message—and many saw the move as Newsom anointing himself the leader of The Resistance 2.0…but he has company, lots of company.
The 2028 Democratic presidential primaries could be the largest in history, some experts say.
At least 27 candidates ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. In alphabetical order, they were: Michael Bennet, Bill de Blasio, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Steve Bullock, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Mike Gravel, Kamala Harris, John Hickenlooper, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Wayne Messam, Beto O’Rourke, Deval Patrick, Tim Ryan, Bernie Sanders, Joe Sestak, Tom Steyer, Eric Swalwell, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Yang.
Now, look at who’s considering running in 2028.
“Democrats who spoke with NBC News are keeping their eyes on roughly two dozen party figures, including a number of governors and a handful of lawmakers who have carved out unique brands and attracted national followings,” reported NBC News.
Among the most prominent of Newsom’s colleagues mentioned for the 2028 presidential race is Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker—whose family has long ties to the Obama family’s inner circle—casts a big shadow over the race.
He’s already told the Trump administration he wants Chicago to stay just the way it is. Trump, he said, isn’t deporting any illegal alien criminals.
If “you come for my people, you come through me,” the hefty Pritzker told Trump.
Others look to the man Kamala Harris shafted in 2024: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Shapiro is a left-wing “progressive,” but he can sound like a moderate and sometimes triangulates on education and economic matters. Many Beltway Republicans like him.
Shapiro earned massive sympathy after Harris passed him over for the vice presidential slot in favor of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, many say because of Shapiro’s religion.
Harris had to make her decision during the massive campus disturbances over the Hamas-Israel war in the Gaza Strip…and many campus activists implied that Shapiro could not be even-handed in the Middle East, because he’s Jewish.
In 2028, Shapiro might slap back.
Others look at Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a black veteran who oozes the charisma of a young Barack Obama.
In a long shot, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or Cori Bush, or another Squad member might step up to represent the Bernie Sanders wing of the party.
The possibilities are endless—all that matters is that they hate Donald Trump.
“I think the core question in the coming weeks and months is who seeks to fight back against Trump 2.0, and who seeks to make peace with it,” said Ezra Levin of the Resistance group Indivisible.
So, watch closely for the candidates who seek to stand out above even the average level of Trump Derangement Syndrome with the most outrageous rhetoric…and remember why they’re doing it.