'Big, unruly field': 2028 could see 'one of the rowdiest Democratic primaries yet'

27 December 2024

focus photography of woman's fist

Progressive firebrand and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan has been slamming MAGA Republicans for exaggerating the size of President-elect Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

Trump, according to the Cook Politico Report, won the popular vote by roughly 1.5 percent — which, Hasan argues, hardly qualifies as the "historic landslide" that MAGA Republicans claim it is. Moreover, Hasan says, Trump won swing states like Pennsylvania by narrow single-digit margins.

But a narrow victory is a victory nonetheless, and Democratic strategists have been lamenting Harris' inability to get past the finish line — as well as the fact that Republicans will have small majorities in both branches of Congress in 2025. Those strategists are now looking ahead to the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race.

In a discussion published on December 27, several Politico reporters — including Christopher Cadelago, Lisa Kashinsky, Holly Otterbein, Elena Schneider and Adam Wren — examine possible candidates for 2028's Democratic presidential primary.

It remains to be seen whether Harris will run for president again or run for governor of California.

Otterbein told her colleagues, "Despite her defeat, people close to Harris believe she ran a strong presidential campaign and isn't like typical losing candidates who are more unpopular at the end of their bids than the beginning. As for her timing, they think that she doesn't need to make a decision about her future ASAP. But the calendar is what it is, which means she likely needs to figure out if she's running for governor in 2026 by sometime around the middle of next year."

Other possible candidates mentioned in the Politico conversation include a lot of governors — among them, Maryland's Wes Moore, Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer and California's Gavin Newsom. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) is mentioned as well.

After President Joe Biden exited the 2024 race, Democrats quickly rallied around Harris as their nominee. But Schneider points out that if Harris ran for president in 2028, she would likely be facing "one of the biggest, rowdiest Democratic primaries yet."

Otterbein agrees, saying that "the 2028 primary is poised to be a big, unruly field."

Wren argued, "I don't see a traditional right-left valence being a relevant category in 2028. Trump reimagined what it means to be a Republican in a way Democrats now need to reimagine what it means to be a Democrat. Down-ballot figures like Rep. Pat Ryan and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez outperformed the top of the ticket, and defied conventional party messaging."

Read the full Politico article at this link.

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