Democrats are scrambling to find a new leader to lead the party and organize resistance to President-elect Trump after Vice President Harris lost the election last month.
Several prominent names have been floated as potential contenders for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, or at least to serve as a voice for a new generation of Democratic leadership going forward. They include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
But with that role seemingly wide open, the next national Democratic leader could be someone who has flown under the radar.
Here are seven potential future Democratic leaders to watch:
Chris Murphy
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) has been a regular fixture in the Senate Democratic Caucus for more than a decade, but he has become more prominent in pushing the party to take a new direction after the election.
He declared just days after Trump’s victory that Democrats need to expand their tent to win back the working-class voters they lost and embrace economic populism as a “tent pole.” He laid out these ideas more directly in a memo to Democrats a few weeks later.
These arguments come as populist fervor has played an increasing role in political discourse during the Trump era on both sides of the aisle. Murphy has continued to press the incoming Trump administration, questioning why Democrats view the president-elect’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as “legitimate” and expressing concern about the incoming president’s impact on the media and free press.
Murphy has also been a leading voice on gun control since the Sandy Hook, Connecticut, shooting, serving as a negotiator for the bipartisan gun control bill in 2022.
Cory Booker
Sen. Cory Booker (D), the first Black senator from New Jersey, has been a fixture in the Democratic caucus and is poised to become one of its top leaders.
Booker’s fellow Democrats selected him earlier this month to chair the newly created Strategic Communications Committee. That would make him the fourth-ranking Democrat in the Senate after Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Rep. Dick Durbin (Ill.), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.).
Booker has already received some national attention for his 2020 presidential bid and is seen as a potential 2028 candidate.
Now, his position as the new committee’s leader will put him at the forefront of Senate Democrats’ messaging. Booker said in a statement that he plans to use “creative” messaging, new technologies and platforms to “speak directly to the American people.”
Ro Khanna
With the aging of leaders in Sens. Bernie Sanders (R-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the progressive wing of the Democratic Party also appears to have a big vacancy to fill.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) would be a much younger choice, one that has demonstrated progressive bona fides. He served as co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and worked with him on several pieces of legislation in Congress.
He has pledged not to take money from political action committees, called for an end to the influence of money in politics, championed antitrust policy and somewhat forged his own path in calling on Democrats to embrace technological advancements and work with Silicon Valley, which is included in his home district.
Khanna has occasionally been the subject of speculation about his potential presidential ambitions. He has been a surrogate for Biden and campaigned for him in New Hampshire, a key state early in the nominating cycle, ahead of this year’s primary.
Ritchie Torres
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) was first elected to Congress in 2020, seen by observers as a potential addition to the party’s progressive wing. But over the past year in particular, he has distanced himself from the far left and pushed the party toward a more moderate approach.
Torres has been a vocal critic of the progressive wing after the election, blaming it in part for Harris’s defeat, and has become a more prominent voice for those who believe the party must moderate to fix its electoral problems.
He has argued that Trump has “no greater friend than the radical left,” which he says is more representative of social media than “the real world.”
He also appears poised to run for governor of New York in 2024, and has been particularly critical of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who he says is “in denial about the depth of her weaknesses as a Democratic candidate,” compared to Biden this year. If he succeeds, his tenure as governor of one of the country’s largest Democratic strongholds would certainly put him on the map.
Jared Polis
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) made history in 2018 as the first openly gay man elected governor, but he has gained renewed attention since the election in preparation for Trump’s second term.
He has taken steps toward cooperation across the spectrum, rather than resistance, while still calling for protecting democracy, a concern among many Trump critics. Polis and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) launched a nonpartisan statewide initiative last month called “Guardians Protecting Democracy” to promote cooperation among governors to combat threats to democracy and protect democratic institutions.
Polis has drawn some criticism for his quick praise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for leading the Department of Health and Human Services but has stressed keeping an open mind, seeing him as a potential improvement over Trump’s first-term pick, Alex Azar.
Meanwhile, on policy, Polis has been something of a rebel, opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates because of his success as a two-term governor cutting taxes, among other economic initiatives. Polis even received praise from Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to co-lead DOGE, for cutting regulations.
Andy Beshear
The red-state Democratic governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, was already seen as a rising star in the party after his reelection in 2023.
But his stock rose even more in 2024, when he was on the shortlist to be Harris’s running mate after she became the presumptive Democratic nominee. With Harris’s loss and Beshear’s term limited in 2027, the Kentucky governor could become a future party leader.
In the wake of the election, Beshear also sought to shape what the party of the future would look like. Writing in an op-ed in The New York Times , he said he would not “play the blame game” but called on Democrats to focus on “core issues” like jobs, housing and health care.
Beshear pointed to his reelection win as a roadmap for Democrats, saying he won because his constituents know he cares about them and has delivered “tangible” results.
He is also set to serve as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association in 2026, after being elected vice chairman next year.
Wes Moore
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) first sought political office in 2022 after his successful run for governor, but his name has increasingly come up as analysts look at the party’s future.
Moore was speculated as a potential running mate to Harris until he said he was not interested in the role. But he remains on the list of potential candidates for 2028.
He gained national attention after collapsing from the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March and pardoning more than 175,000 marijuana convictions in Maryland in June.
Moore’s military background is in addition to former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown (D). Moore could be “next” to Harris “if he plays right,” he said.
