Elissa Slotkin Michigan

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.

Speculation On Long Shot Democratic Presidential Contenders For 2028

Ronald 2 Comments

With speculation about the future Presidential Election of 2028 heating up, as we near the Midterm Congressional and Gubernatorial Elections of 2026, Reid J. Epstein of the NY Times published on May 13 an exhaustive list of potential contenders in both parties, totaling the “crazy” number of 62 individuals—30 Democrats and 32 Republicans.

This author and blogger thinks this massive list is “off the wall”, and that the vast number of these potential 62 contenders will never even announce a Presidential candidacy.

However,there are some who are intriguing on the Democratic Party side.

Newcomers who have to prove themselves by winning in November

James Talarico of Texas, Senate
Graham Platner of Maine, Senate
Rob Sand of Iowa, Governor

Democrats in office who would be fascinating candidates

Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Senator
Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Senator
Jason Crow of Colorado, House of Representatives

Realistically, of the above list, the only likely contenders who would announce for President would be Slotkin and Ossoff.

However, there is speculation that Talarico, who has really inspired and excited many about his prospects, could end up running for Vice President, as after all, Vice President JD Vance only had one and a half years in office as Ohio Senator, before being tapped for the Vice Presidency.

And also, Barack Obama announced for President only two years after winning his Illinois Senate seat, and became President after four years of service.

Analysis Of Potential Democratic Presidential Contenders In 2028, But Who Are The Likely Serious Contenders?

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We are months away from the true beginning of the 2028 Presidential race, which will be in full blossom the day after the Midterm Elections take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

However, already, there are clearcut signs of activities and planning moving ahead, with the strong likelihood that we might see an overwhelming number of Democrats announcing for President, with the number possibly as high as in the mid 20s, similar to several past Presidential campaigns.

Many contenders will not be taken seriously, but even announcing for President gains lots of publicity and attention for any future ambitions.

At this point, the following ten potential contenders for the White House on the Democratic side, would seem to be the following in no specific order:

California Governor Gavin Newsom
Illinois Governor JD Pritzker
Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Maryland Governor Wes Moore
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker
Former Vice President Kamala Harris (California)

There is speculation about a wide variety of other potential candidates.

Other seen as far less likely include:

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego
Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff
Hawaii Governor Josh Green
Colorado Governor Jared Polis
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock

Those from the House of Representatives mentioned, although never has a member of the lower house of Congress been nominated, with the one exception of James A. Garfield, for the Republicans in 1880, while also a candidate for the US Senate, which he won on the same day he won the White House, are:

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
California Congressman Ro Khanna

From outside government, those mentioned include

Stephen A. Smith, sports media personality
Jon Stewart, commedian and commentator
Mark Cuban, Entrepreneur and Television Personality
Rahm Emanuel, former Ambassador to Japan and Mayor of Chicago

At this point, the odds would be very great that one of the first group of ten would be the nominee.

However, within that group, “negative” factors could be that

Kamala Harris is African American, Asian American, and female

Wes Moore and Cory Booker are African American

JD Pritzker and Josh Shapiro are Jewish

Pete Buttigieg is gay

Only Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, Mark Kelly, and Chris Murphy would be seen as “traditional” contenders, meaning they are white male and straight, a sad commentary on America, that one even needs to mention that being a woman, or African American, or Jewish, or gay, is outside the so called “mainstream” of American politics in the past!

If we analyzed the remaining listed potential candidates for the Democrats, it would show the following:

Female—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gretchen Whitmer, Elissa Slotkin

African American or Asian American—Raphael Warnock, Stephen A. Smith, Ro Khanna

Latino American—Ruben Gallego, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Jewish—Elissa Slotkin, Jon Ossoff, Josh Green, Jared Polis, Jon Stewart, Mark Cuban, Rahm Emanuel

Gay—Jared Polis

So in conclusion, IF these various distinguishing factors are seen as detrimental in a Presidential campaign, then the choice that is left is only:

Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, Mark Kelly, Chris Murphy

The Issue Of Age And Potential Democratic Presidential Contenders In 2028

Ronald 7 Comments

The issue of age is a consideration as Democrats plan for the upcoming Presidential nomination process for the Presidential Election of 2028, once the Midterms in November are resolved.

With the last two Presidents being the oldest nominees and Presidents in American history, and the reality of signs of aging that have been exposed about both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, age is definitely an important consideration.

So this author and blogger has done research into the present age of the list of 25 potential contenders discussed two days ago on this blog.

Of course, the age of all 25 will increase by three years until the inauguration on January 20, 2029, so that is a consideration beyond the momentary statistics at this point of time.

Presently, there are two potential contenders who are in their late 30s–Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (36) and Jon Ossoff (39), so Ocasio-Cortez would still be under age 40 at the time of the inauguration, while Ossoff would be early 40s at nearly age 42, still in either case, the youngest President in American history.

Six of the potential Presidential contenders are presently in their 40s, bringing back the memory of John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Presently, they are Pete Buttigieg (44), Ruben Gallego (46), Wes Moore (47), Andy Beshear (48), Elissa Slotkin (49), and Ro Khanna (49). Of course, by Inauguration Day 2029, only Buttigieg and Gallego will still be under 50.

Eight of the potential Presidential contenders are presently in their 50s, including Jared Polis (50), Josh Shapiro (52), Chris Murphy (52), Gretchen Whitmer (54), Cory Booker (56), Raphael Warnock (56), Josh Green (56), and Gavin Newsom (58). All would still be under the age of 60, except Newsom, on Inauguration Day 2029.

Finally, nine of the potential Presidential contenders are presently in their 60s, including Mark Kelly (61) Kamala Harris (61), JB Pritzker (61), Jon Stewart (63), Jamie Raskin (63), Adam Schiff (65), Rahm Emanuel (66); Chris Van Hollen (67), and Mark Cuban (67).

So both Chris Van Hollen and Mark Cuban would be past the age of 70 on Inauguration Day, and Adam Schiff and Rahm Emanuel would reach age 70 during their four year term in office.

It is likely some of this long list of 25 contenders will end up not announcing, but this analysis of age is enlightening for discussion!

An All Time High Number Of Potential Jewish Democratic Presidential Contenders In 2028!

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There is a possibility that America might see an all time high number of potential Democratic Presidential contenders who are of Jewish heritage in the upcoming Presidential Election of 2028.

As now perceived, there could be ELEVEN Jewish contenders:

Governors
Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania
JD Pritzker of Illinois
Jared Polis of Colorado
Josh Green of Hawaii

Senators
Jon Ossoff of Georgia
Elissa Slotkin of Michigan
Adam Schiff of California

House Of Representatives
Jamie Raskin of Maryland

Cabinet and Ambassadorships
Rahm Emanuel of Illinois

Outside of Government
Mark Cuban
Jon Stewart

Speculation Begins On Potential Democratic Presidential Contenders

Ronald 6 Comments

It is nine months until the Midterm Elections of 2026 for Congress, and state and local government.

But already, speculation has begun on who might run for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2028, and the list is long, and not just the usual speculated candidates.

Among those assumed to be likely to run are, in no special order:

Former Vice President Kamala Harris
California Governor Gavin Newsom
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

But beyond these much speculated potential candidates, there is a much longer list of others, in no special order:

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy
Maryland Governor Wes Moore
Former Chicago Mayor and Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel
California Congressman Ro Khanna
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff
Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego
Billionaire Entrepreneur Mark Cuban
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin
Hawaii Governor Josh Green
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen
Comedian and Political Commentator Jon Stewart
Colorado Governor Jared Polis
California Senator Adam Schiff

So the total potential list is at least 25 candidates, and who knows, if someone not on this list joins the fray!

There are 8 Governors on the list; 9 US Senators; 3 House members; two former Mayors and Cabinet members or Ambassadors; two outside government leaders; and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

And the list is extremely diverse in nature, including:

4 Women
6 White Male Christian
2 Latinos
4 African Americans
1 Hindu
11 Jews
2 Gays
2 Outside of Government

Trump Threats To Execute Political Opponents Escalating The Constitutional Crisis That Trump Represents!

Ronald 3 Comments

Donald Trump, crazily, has accused Democratic political opponents in Congress of sedition, punishable by death, because of them stating that soldiers in the military do not have to obey illegal orders against the Constitution of the United States. They swear allegiance to the Constitution, not to a particular President or administration.

Six lawmakers, Senators Mark Kelly of Arizona Navy) and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan (CIA and Department Of Defense analyst), and House members Jason Crow of Colorado (Army), Chris DeLuzio of Pennsylvania (Navy), Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire (Navy), and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania (Air Force) reacted in condemnation, and now face death threats perpetrated by Trump’s denunciation of them.

This threat by Trump is “an alarm bell in the night”, a danger sign that the nation is moving ever closer to an authoritarian Fascist dictatorship, if the Republican Party in Congress, and the Supreme Court majority do not react in fierce opposition!

It is clear that Donald Trump is “running scared”, as he suffers defeats in federal courts, and has his own MAGA Republicans backing away from him regarding the Epstein Scandal, where he was forced to give in, as a few courageous Republicans defied him in wanting to release the records.

The entire Congress has gone along on wanting the revelation of who was involved in the abuse of young women and girls by wealthy and powerful individuals, including Donald Trump himself!

The Question Of Chuck Schumer Remaining As Senate Minority Leader

Ronald 2 Comments

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has come under fire for the reality that eight members of his caucus abandoned the unified party stand on the Federal Government Shutdown, leading to an end of the 43 day crisis, but leaving the issue of health care for millions of American unsettled as 2026 comes upon us.

Millions of Americans are learning their health care costs will dramatically increase, sometimes double or triple the amount monthly, making many have to consider abandoning any insurance coverage, a very dangerous action for anyone to consider.

So the thought is whether Schumer should give his leadership of the Senate Democrats, but the question is who would replace him, and be able to accomplish advancement of Democratic Party initiatives, leading up to the midterm Congressional Elections of 2026, and beyond.

Clearly, any Democratic Senator facing election in 2026 cannot become the Minority Leader.

But also, none of the seven Democrats who voted to end the Federal Government Shutdown can become an alternative to Chuck Schumer.

Additionally, any Democrat retiring in 2026 is ineligible for the position of Minority Leader moving forward.

Also, any Democrat considering the possibility of a White House run in 2028 would not be a likely alternative.

So looking at the present roster of Senate Democrats in the leadership group means there are slim alternatives for now to replace Schumer.

So it seems to this blogger and author, that the only possible alternatives would be the following:

Adam Schiff of California
Brian Schatz of Hawaii
Chris Van Hollen of Maryland
Elissa Slotkin of Michigan
Martin Heinrich of New Mexico
Kirsten Gillibrand of New York

Only Schatz and Gillibrand have any leadership position at the moment in the Senate—-Chief Deputy Whip and Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Caucus in the case of Schatz, and Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the case of Gillibrand.