As the dust settles from Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat at the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, Democrats are already jockeying to emerge as the party’s next leader — looking to shape the opposition's response to Trump’s second term and position themselves in the party’s 2028 presidential primary.
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, to see who may lead the party out of the coming wilderness.
In particular, the deep bench of Democratic governors elected in 2018 and 2022 has the benefit of distance from President Joe Biden’s administration and the ability to take on Trump with state executive authority in the coming years — a step several potential contenders are already taking in special legislative sessions, the launch of new advocacy groups and chest-beating statements.
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Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist and former top official at the Democratic Governors Association, noted that while the Democratic governors who ran for president in 2020 were less well known, potential 2028 contenders like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker “are all household names for most Democrats.”
“It will be key to see what the next year or two brings and what the shape of Democratic pushback to Trumpism is,” said Leopold, who worked on Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s 2020 presidential campaign. “That will help determine who’s in a position to lead the party forward.”
“Governors have a better chance of breaking through this time than they did before,” he said. “And I also think there’s not going to be as much to be done in the Senate with a deeper minority. So it will be harder to break through on the national stage.”
And Democratic figures will find that “it’s not just enough to exist in the context of Trump” this time around, Democratic strategist Caitlin Legacki said, putting a premium on those who can offer “proactive and positive advocacy” for the party and their positions.
“I think the ‘resistance’ in 2025 is going to look a lot different than 2017,” Legacki said. “People are exhausted, there’s less money, things feel darker. There just isn’t an endless appetite for resistance content right now. So those who are actually interested in running are going to have to be a lot more creative in terms of having an impact and being visible.”
Attention turns to the party’s high-profile governors
Newsom and Pritzker are already wielding Trump as a foil. Just days after the election, Newsom announced he would convene a special session of the California state Legislature intended to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.” Trump elevated the plan with a public rebuke, posting that “Governor Gavin Newscum” was trying to stop “all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again.’”
Newsom visited the White House on Tuesday and Capitol Hill on Wednesday to pitch officials on safeguarding some of his California priorities before Trump takes office, while he invited his PAC’s email list to a Zoom discussion he held for supporters.
Pritzker — who warned at a news conference two days after the election, “You come for my people, you come through me” — announced a new initiative Wednesday with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, himself a potential presidential aspirant, branded “Governors Safeguarding Democracy.”
Pritzker, a billionaire whose fortune stems from his family’s ownership of the Hyatt hotel chain, has revamped the Democratic Party structure in Illinois and spent millions bankrolling pro-abortion rights initiatives around the country. He also presided over this summer’s Democratic National Convention in his home state.
“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, the co-founder of Indivisible, one of the key groups behind the rise of the so-called “resistance” to Trump’s first term.
Then there are two rising Democratic stars occupying “blue wall” governorships. Shapiro and Whitmer both won landslide victories in 2022. Though both were set back by Harris’ defeat in Pennsylvania and Michigan, their electoral records and prominence have put them firmly atop many Democrats’ presidential wish lists.
“I’ve had a front row seat to her leadership for these last six years,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson replied in a text message when asked about a potential Whitmer run in 2028. “People love her, even if they disagree with her. She has that unique combination of grit and grace — a workhorse who genuinely cares about people and doesn’t back down from a fight. She has what it takes to bring people together and lead our country.”
Whitmer, who is term-limited in Michigan, drew attention in March when she joked “see you in 2029” — before winking — at the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, D.C. She has not explicitly signaled interest in seeking the presidency following the 2024 vote.
Ditto for Shapiro, who has spent the days after the election focused on economic development efforts in his state. A spokesman pointed to his post-election statement: “I know the pundits will analyze every aspect of this election, but for my part, I’m going to continue to listen to the good people of Pennsylvania, show respect for their choices, and find ways to bring people back together and move the ball down the field to put points on the board for all of us.”
Democrats who spoke with NBC News said Shapiro played the final months of the campaign well after he was not selected as Harris’ running mate, generating headlines with a busy campaign schedule on her behalf. Multiple people who spoke with NBC News pointed to a New York Magazine feature on Shapiro’s closing efforts headlined “The Other Running Mate” as highlighting this dynamic.
“I think there is a 100% chance he’s running for president,” said one Pennsylvania Democrat, noting Shapiro’s blend of strong battleground-state approval ratings, donor connections and oratory skills. “I just don’t see how he doesn’t run.”
“I’d be very glad to be Josh Shapiro. But four years is a freaking eternity,” this person added. “I mean, my God, the 106 days we just lived through felt like an eternity.”
A second Pennsylvania Democrat said Shapiro is likely to “get a lot of pressure” to run “because there’s a huge vacuum right now.”
“And I think what he’s going to tell everyone is, ‘I’ve got to focus on the budget. I’ve got to focus on re-election. I’m focused on Pennsylvania,’” this person added. “But I think he’s probably thinking about it.”
Of course, Harris might make a third bid for the White House, though her loss to Trump after raising over $1 billion will weigh heavily on many Democrats’ minds.
On the flip side, Harris was within a few swing-state percentage points of the presidency after spending just over 100 days in the race and battling economic headwinds that have sunk parties in power around the world. Whether Harris is up to another campaign is a different question, a senior aide noted, and the answer will only come with time.
“We’re barely a week after the election,” the person said.
‘There’s a ton of people’
Democrats’ roster of presidential contenders is certain to be wider than the most prominent governors and the former vice president.
Swing-state senators including Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and Arizona’s Mark Kelly will be able to tout electoral successes in tough environments, while Ossoff will be front and center in one of the biggest races of the 2026 midterm elections.
Another rising stock to watch, Democratic insiders say, is Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, a 44-year-old Latino Marine veteran who won in Arizona on the same ballot as Trump by putting some distance between himself from the national party on immigration and other issues.
Others, like Connecticut’s Chris Murphy and Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, look interested in shaping a new Democratic approach on myriad issues. Murphy went viral on X last week when he tweeted on how the party is “out of touch with the crisis of meaning/purpose fueling MAGA,” an idea he has been working through over the past year.
And Fetterman, who made an end-of-campaign appearance on prominent podcaster Joe Rogan’s show, could be at the forefront of changing how the party communicates with key demographics. (Fetterman said “nah” when asked if he has interest in running for president in the upcoming election, adding, “Never get high on your own supply.”)
Additional governors, like Maryland’s Wes Moore and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, are also seen as likely to shape the party’s coming years in the wilderness. So too are candidates who ran in 2020, like Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who may give national office another look.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., will likely play key roles in shaping the future of the party’s progressive wing, and Khanna has made little attempt to hide his ambitions as he’s traveled the country on “listening tours” — including to early primary states like New Hampshire — with another one expected soon.
“In a normal world, AOC should be lifted up by Gen Z,” the first Pennsylvania Democrat said, before noting the generation’s rightward turn in 2024. “Another guy no one talks about, by the way, is Ossoff, because he kind of keeps quiet, but he’s great. And Warnock. There’s a ton of people. It’s just — who does what? Who can get the viral moment?”
With the electorate in a foul mood and cynical about Washington, an outsider could play a role, too, with multiple Democrats suggesting that billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who was a key Harris surrogate, or someone like him could take the Democratic Party by storm.
“There is an appetite and interest in people with business experience,” Leopold said. “So you could certainly see a businessperson like a Mark Cuban making a run.”
Asked if he had interest in seeking the presidency in 2028, Cuban told NBC News “No” in an email. He gave the same answer when asked if there is anyone right now he would like to see run or thinks will make a good presidential candidate.
Leopold said Democratic primary voters will first and foremost be looking for candidates who “stand up for our values in what will be several years in the wilderness,” with “workhorses” being valued over “show horses.”
“My guess would be the 2028 cycle will look a lot like the 2020 or the 2004 cycle, where for the Democrats it’s a, ‘Just win, baby,’ cycle,” Leopold said, citing former Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis’ famed mantra.
Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, said that “above all else, Democrats will want to pick a winner. They will prioritize charisma, reach and authenticity over purity.”
“I expect candidates will feel emboldened to skip past establishment groups and media that want to make the primary a gauntlet of litmus tests,” Mook said, “and instead choose outlets and influencers that allow them to campaign on their own terms.”
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