Pete Buttigieg Secretary Of Transportation

Potential Democratic Presidential Contenders In The Presidential Election of 2028

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.

The Issue Of Age And Potential Democratic Presidential Contenders In 2028

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!

Speculation Begins On Potential Democratic Presidential Contenders

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