Chris Murphy Connecticut

Potential Democratic Presidential Contenders In The Presidential Election of 2028

Ronald 16 Comments

Yesterday, this author and blogger outlined and discussed the potential list of Republican Presidential contenders in the Presidential Election of 2028.

Today, we will outline the list of potential Democratic Presidential contenders, which is much longer a list than the 13 Republicans seen as likely to run in 2028 primaries.

In no special order, the list includes the following, a total of 21 potential nominees:

Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia
Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia
Governor Wes Moore of Maryland
Former Vice President Kamala Harris of California
Outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom of California
Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona
Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (now from Michigan)
Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois
Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky
Outgoing Governor Jared Polis of Colorado
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey
Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut
Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona
Former Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel
Congressman Ro Khanna of California
Outgoing Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland

So in total, there are 21 potential Democratic Presidential contenders two months before the Midterm Elections of 2026.

Eight on the list are US Senators; Seven are Governors; Three are former Executive appointments; Two are members of the House of Representatives; and former Vice President Kamala Harris finishes the list.

Also, five contenders are from crucial “Swing States”, Georgia (Ossoff, Warnock); Arizona (Kelly, Gallego); and Pennsylvania (Shapiro); and one is from a “red state”, Kentucky (Andy Beshear).

Whether all of this list will actually announce is unlikely, but a large number will do so.

So in summary, the list of contenders are a total of 34, with 21 Democrats and 13 Republicans.

Prospect Of Young Senate Democrats After Midterm Elections Of 2026

Ronald 51 Comments

A “Youth Movement” seems likely after the Midterm Elections of 2026, with the prospect of new and young Democrats joining the US Senate.

If things go well, we could have the following new Democratic or Independent US Senators in their late 30s, 40s, or early 50s:

Alaska–Mary Peltola
Florida–Alex Vindman
Iowa–Josh Turek
Kentucky–Charles Booker
Maine–Graham Platner
Massachusetts–Seth Moulton (if Octogenarian Ed Markey is defeated in September 1 primary)
Michigan–Abdul El-Sayed, Mallory McMorrow, or Haley Stevens after August 4 primary
Minnesota–Peggy Flanagan or Angie Craig after August 11 primary
Montana–Seth Bodnar (Independent)
Nebraska–Dan Osborn (Independent)
New Hampshire–Chris Pappas
South Carolina–Annie Andrews
Texas–James Talarico

In reality, the “best” bets are in Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Hampshire, all Democratic states presently–and hopefully, Alaska, Florida, Iowa, and Texas, with possibilities in Montana and Nebraska with Independent contenders. Kentucky and South Carolina are real “long shots” at this point.

Add to this list the following Democratic US Senators who are part of the “Youth Movement”:

Arizona–Ruben Gallego
California–Alex Padilla
Connecticut–Chris Murphy
Georgia–Jon Ossoff, only sitting Democrat running for reelection this year of this “Youth Movement”
Hawaii–Brian Schatz
Michigan–Elissa Slotkin
New Jersey–Andy Kim

Roy Cooper in North Carolina and Sherrod Brown in Ohio are NOT part of the youth movement, but also have a good opportunity to put their states in the Democratic Senate column in November.

Senate Democrats Split Over Graham Platner

Ronald 15 Comments

The victory of Graham Platner in the Maine Democratic primary for the US Senate was overwhelming, but has split many Senate Democrats, who retain doubts about the controversial history of their party’s nominee.

Among those registering doubts and misgivings are:

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly
New Mexico Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin
New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen
New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth
Vermont Senator Peter Welch

At the same time, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and other progressive oriented Democrats emphasize the need to support Platner despite his shortcomings.

The vast majority of Democratic Senators are seeing Platner as their best hope to reach a Senate majority in the Midterm Elections of 2026.

And they point out that despite his checkered record on many fronts, the opposition Republicans have so many more checkered backgrounds, including, most notably:

Donald Trump
Pete Hegseth
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Ken Paxton

The clear conclusion is that there are few “saints” in politics, and that the American people have overlooked or had to accept shortcomings in candidates over many years.

The days of candidates, such as Gary Hart, Bob Packwood and Eric Swalwell losing their careers due to their misbehaviors, seem even more distant than the 1980s and early 1990s, when ethics and morals seemed to matter more.

This author and blogger is very uncomfortable with Platner, but every effort to gain a Democratic majority in the Senate is essential, in order to fight to resist and reverse a lot of the damage of the Trump Presidency, and gain the recovery of American democracy and the rule of law.

This author and blogger is glad he does not live in Maine, as voting directly for Platner, who comes across as unseemly in so many ways, would be a very difficult effort.

But his record is just about the same as Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton, who is not beneath vicious, unwarranted attacks on his opponent, Democrat James Talarico, so the mud slinging on both sides in this midterm election cycle is already in full swing.