Several potential candidates have either acknowledged considering a White House run or declined to rule one out. Most spent the final weeks of the midterm campaign stumping for fellow Democrats in early nominating states such as Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
They include former Vice-President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in 2024, Governors Gavin Newsom of California and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a leading progressive voice.
Reuters contacted representatives for nine of the party’s most prominent potential contenders. None confirmed a 2028 run.
Nine days after the Nov 3 elections, several prospective Democratic candidates, including Buttigieg and another progressive, US Representative Ro Khanna of California, are scheduled to attend a gathering in Denver hosted by Majority Democrats.
The group, backed largely by moderate Democrats and billionaire donor Steve Mandel, advocates for younger party leaders and a party platform that is more centrist.
US Representative Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, the group’s chair, said the event is meant to spark a debate about the party’s future before the 2028 race takes shape, and lay out a positive agenda for what the party is for, rather than just being anti-Trump.
Scott Ferson, a Democratic strategist, said the party’s presidential primary could attract a huge number of candidates. “There are at least 30 Democrats who are saying to people close to them, ‘Do you think I should run?'” Ferson said.
