In the United States, presidential elections are typically make-or-break moments for party leaders.
Most people won’t remember Barack Obama’s defeated challengers in 2008 or 2012, or George W. Bush in 2000 or 2004. Trump?
In November, Trump not only won the presidency in the electoral college, but also won the popular vote. This is the first for a Republican in decades. Republicans under him also flipped control of the Senate. Additionally, Trump won every battleground state and won across nearly every demographic, including traditional Democratic-leaning groups such as blacks and Hispanic Americans.
While former President Joe Biden essentially retired when he withdrew from the contest, Harris has not indicated whether she is retiring from electoral politics. Whether she takes on the role of an elder statesman like Barack Obama or comes back to fight another day like Biden – however, Biden will remain president as his boss’s hopeful successor. He has never lost as a candidate – remains to be seen.
former vice president kamala harris
Despite her baggage of losses, Harris is the Democratic Party’s best-known national leader.
Harris connects with most donors, leverages human resources from campaigns, has governance experience, and has the opportunity to learn from her mistakes and come out stronger next time. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but for these reasons she remains at the top of the list of potential Democratic candidates in the next presidential election in 2028.
There are already signs that Democrats are open to keeping Harris on the ticket in 2028. The Hill’s Amy Parnes said in an article that it was Biden who “received most of the criticism” for the loss, not Harris.
“In many ways, this was still Joe Biden’s race, including the fact that although she was ultimately the nominee, she was unable to distance herself from him when she needed to. It still had a lot of constraints,” Parnes quoted one Harris ally as saying.
Weeks after the election, Emerson indicated that Harris was leading the party’s list of potential candidates for the 2028 election.
But an unlikely factor, if not the baggage of an electoral defeat, could keep her off the ticket in 2028: her gender. The 2020 election loss was not just a loss for Harris, but a victory for the “manosphere” over women’s platforms. Trump won on a platform that tried to mock women’s reproductive rights, transgender rights, and homosexuals. We can’t ignore the reality that the three elections Trump contested, both of his wins were scored against women.
Parnes summarized the case against Harris’ candidacy. “The last two Democrats nominated a woman to be the presidential standards official, and the nominee lost to Trump. There will be Democrats who want to go in a different direction. Harris also lost 10 She led a billion-dollar campaign. And her campaign wasn’t perfect. There are Democrats who think it would be foolish to choose the same candidate in 2028 who lost in 2024.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom
California Governor Gavin Newsom is a top Democrat who has made a name for himself as a champion of liberal values. Because of this, he is the darling of many in the Democratic Party and the villain of Trump and his far-right allies.
Hill’s Parnes called Newsom “a bulwark for the Democratic Party against Trump.”
There are already signs that Newsom is preparing to lead a democratic resistance to Trump’s assault on liberal values. He has taken steps to strengthen state laws and minimize their impact on Trump’s executive orders and incoming legislative agenda.
Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist and former top official at the Democratic Governors Association, told NBC News that Newsom is a “well-known name for most Democrats,” along with a small bunch of well-known Democrats, and that he believes this He said it shows he can rise to the occasion. Notably, he was on the short list to be Harris’ running partner in the 2020 election.
In 2023, Newsom was also considered the Democratic candidate for the 2024 election. He debated strongly with Ron DeSantis, who at the time was seen as a worthy leader for the Republican candidate, and was touring several Republican states to reach voters.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Andy Beshear is not a Democratic governor in the conservative state of Kentucky.
The idea of attracting moderate voters failed in the 2020 election, but if Beshear can bring a new approach, he could likely bring moderates across the spectrum and into the Democratic fold again, and Trump We were able to build a coalition to challenge the.
In 2023, Beshear won Kentucky despite Trump winning in 2020 by a 26% margin. He was also a finalist to be Harris’ running mate.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is among the ambitious Democratic governors eyeing the nomination in 2028.
Along with newspapers and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, among others, Democratic strategist Jared Leopold told NBC News that Pritzker is “a household name for most Democrats.” spoke.
Pritzker is popular among the party’s progressives and could emerge in the coming years as a leader of the resistance against Trump.
Pritzker has a number of legislative victories to support his record, including securing reproductive rights and increasing the minimum wage.
The Hill’s Parnes noted that Pritzker praised the way he went after Trump the day after the Democrat emerged as the winner.
“Anyone who wants to come, take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of the Illinois people and remind them that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You came for my people, you came for my people. ,” Pritzker said at the time.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has long been considered the national leader of the Democratic Party.
The Hill’s Parnes points out that some in the Democratic Party feel Whitmer could have been a stronger candidate than Harris was if there had been an open primary process for choosing a candidate. I did.
Whitmer was considered a top candidate to be Biden’s running mate in 2020 before choosing Harris.
In 2022, Whitmer won a landslide victory and won a second term as governor of Michigan. Her current term is her second and last as governor, so we hope she makes the leap onto the national scene.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told NBC News that “people love her” and “she has what it takes to bring people together and lead our country.”
In March 2024, Whitmer indicated that she intended to run for office nationally. “See you in 2029,” she told supporters at the event.
But Parnes on the Hill says Whitmer, a woman, may face the same basic challenges as Harris.
“The next candidate is always a referendum on the last candidate. I think Harris ran a much better race than anyone could have asked for,” Democratic strategist Christy Setzer told Parnes.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was a rising star in the Democratic Party, emerging stronger from the loss of Harris in recent years.
Shapiro was a finalist who became Harris’ running mate. Harris ultimately chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
There are already questions among Democrats whether Shapiro’s presence could have made any difference in the election.
One Democratic donor told The Hill: He has a certain gravitas. ”
Shapiro is also a leader in a key swing state in Pennsylvania. His blue-collar background and swing state shakes could strengthen his chances if he decides to one day run for Land’s top office.
But Shapiro may face an unlikely obstacle: his religion. Since Hamas’ attacks on Israel, extremists who systematically target targets on both the right and the left, some observers believe that his religious identity is the highest in anti-Semitism statistics. He says it may work against him politically.
