For the next two years, Republicans will have full control of the White House and Senate and are projected to retain their majority in the House. The trifecta control is a major reversal of fortunes for Democrats, who have held two of the three arms of government since Biden beat President-elect Donald Trump in 2020.

Harris’s performance in handing control of the government back to Trump and Republicans almost definitely means her future in national politics is done, at least in the short term. A lot will change between now and the next presidential election in 2028, but some Democrats are already jockeying for position at the front of the line to replace Biden and Harris as the party’s standard-bearer.

Without an incumbent candidate or partner, the 2028 Democratic primary is expected to be a wide-open contest that looks more like the slugfest in 2020 than the stifled affair this year.

Here is an advanced look at several people who are likely to be in the running for the presidential nomination and the job of representing the Democratic Party.

PROGRESSIVE LAWMAKERS FILL LEADERSHIP VACUUM AFTER DEMOCRATS’ 2024 LOSSES

Gretchen Whitmer

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) was first elected Michigan’s governor in 2018 and reelected in 2022 for a final term.

While previously floated as a vice presidential candidate for Harris, Whitmer publicly declined, saying she would not be leaving Michigan. However, with her second term as governor ending in 2026, Whitmer will be freed up to pursue politics on the national stage.

Whitmer was also floated as a possible replacement for Biden before he tapped Harris to step into the job. Her performance as governor has been well-received by her constituents but it might be a difficult portfolio to present to the broader electorate.

However, Michigan voters did just flip back into the red column and supported sending Trump back to the White House for another term.

Josh Shapiro

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) appeared to have the position of being Harris’s running mate locked down until the final hour when she picked Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN).

Shapiro, another swing state governor, was elected during the 2022 midterm elections and has made a name for himself as a popular executive whom Republicans acknowledge would be a formidable foe. His election was notable, given that he was the first governor to succeed a member of his party since 1966.

His 2022 win not only kept the line of Democratic succession intact but was also a major personal victory, as he holds the record for receiving the most votes in a single election in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania was yet another blemish on Harris’s record, as her final day on the trail stumping in the state wasn’t enough to put her over the top. Democrats selecting Shapiro to lead the national party could give them a leg up in a vital state that will almost certainly be as important four years from now as it was this cycle.

Wes Moore

Like Shapiro, Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) was elected in 2022, making him the state’s first African American governor and the third African American governor in the nation.

When Biden faltered in his debate with Trump, sparking his eventual downfall, Moore was a clear replacement option on insiders’ lips.

He quickly shut down those discussions, insisting Biden was the future of the party.

Moore could have leaned into his resume. He’s the youngest Democrat running a state in the country and is the only black governor. He has also received praise from the Left and Right for how he handled the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.

Instead, he stood behind Biden, saying, “The president has always had our backs. We’re going to have his back as well.”

Pete Buttigieg

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg burst onto the national scene in 2020 when he first made his run for the presidency. The contest was short-lived as he dropped out in March of that year, though that was months longer than Harris lasted.

The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, then landed a position in the Biden administration as secretary of transportation.

After a shaky start to his tenure, he settled into his position and has played a similar role for the Biden administration that Vice President-elect J.D. Vance played for the Trump campaign. He’s comfortable going on Sunday shows, including Fox News, to spar with Republicans and be an active voice speaking up in defense of Biden and his policies.

He also played an important role in the Harris-Walz campaign. He was even dubbed the Democratic Party’s “debate guru” when it was reported that he was coaching Walz ahead of his vice presidential debate against Vance.

Gavin Newsom

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has had his sights on the White House for years. There was a raft of speculation that he might challenge Biden in the primary fight, but it never really took off.

The California governor denied he ever had any intention of displacing the president or trying to strongarm Harris out of the way once she became the presumptive nominee. Like Moore, Newsom was careful to make it clear he was more comfortable being an attack dog for Biden and Harris than a replacement.

However, in four years, both Biden and Harris will be out of the picture, and his time leading California will be at a close, leaving the road to the White House wide open.

Newsom shares a similar problem with Whitmer in that his record running California might not play well outside the confines of a deep-blue electorate.

However, he appears to have acknowledged that he must use the end of his tenure to prove to voters outside the Golden State that he is aware of how his state’s politics don’t map perfectly onto the rest of the country.

He has worked to appeal to more moderate voters by addressing the homelessness crisis and has tried to staunch the fiscal bleeding his state is experiencing.

Tim Walz

Fresh off losing a bid for vice president, Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota said he isn’t ruling out making a run for the White House in 2028.

“Well, I had a friend tell me, ‘Never turn down a job you haven’t been offered,’” Walz shared in an interview with the New Yorker in early March when asked if he’d run for president. “If I think I could offer something … I would certainly consider that. I’m also, though, not arrogant enough to believe there’s a lot of people that can do this.”

In February, Walz said he wouldn’t pursue the open U.S. senate in 2026 as Democratic Sen. Tina Smith announced her plans to retire.

“He loves his job as Governor and he’s exploring the possibility of another term to continue his work to make Minnesota the best state in the country for kids,” Teddy Tschann, a spokesperson for Walz, said in a statement.

In the middle of March, Walz hosted townhalls in deep red congressional districts Iowa and Nebraska, admitting that he’s been doing some “soul-searching” following his defeat in 2024.  He sought to highlight how the Trump administration was making major cuts to the Department of Education, Department of Veterans Affairs and entitlement programs like Medicaid.

J.B. Pritzker 

The two-term governor of Illinois has yet to announce if he will make a bid for a third term with less than a year to go before the 2026 primary. 

A billionaire, Pritzker has expanded his influence outside of Illinois by both establishing a fund, known as Think Big America, which funds abortion-rights ballot initiates across the country and donating $500,000 in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. 

And in March, Pritzker spoke at the Center for American Progress, a think tank, in which he honed in on fighting against Trump’s initiatives to downsize the federal government and also the impactful role he will play as governor during Trump’s second administration. 

“The bully pulpit that I get as governor gives me the opportunity at least to speak to what I think that our common American values are, and we are the center of the country, the heart of the country,” Pritzker said. “In the state of Illinois, we also have a state that is most reflective of the population of the entire United States,” he said. “So it gives me that opportunity to talk about what I think is happening in the country and the dangers that I think we’re facing.”

Ro Khanna

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is hosting townhalls in GOP districts, introducing legislation which adopts Trump’s “train the swamp” iniative, and establishing a plan of attack for Democrats in an OP/ED published by MSNBC News, all of which signal that he may be seeking party top leadership in 2028. 

In March, Khanna held three townhalls in red districts in his state of California. 

“The old guard needs to go,” Khanna said at a townhall in a GOP stronghold district in California.  “I will assure you that there are a lot of next-generation Democrats who are going to stand up to Donald Trump and (Elon) Musk and believe we (shouldn’t) cooperate with them while they’re engaged in unconstitutional action.”  

He’s also squaring up against Vice President J.D. Vance as he plans to make stops in April in Vance’s home state of Ohio and at Yale Law School, their alma mater.

The Congressman is also seeking to make combating anti-corruption a top priority of Democrats through introducing the “ Drain the Swamp Act.” This act will prohibit White House officials lobbyists from accepting gifts from lobbyists.

In addition, Khanna has been a fierce critic of Trump’s taping of billionaire Elon Musk in gutting the federal government.

“There is only one question that matters: what are you doing as a citizen to stop the dismantling of our government including Medicaid and social security and our global leadership by headstrong billionaires,” Marie Baldassarre, spokesperson for Khanna told the Washington Examiner. “ Khanna believes this is table stakes for the next generation that seeks to lead. That is why he’s hosting town halls with over 1,000 people across the country and pushing to pass his bold political reform agenda, including banning PAC and lobbying money to ensure the American people have a voice again.”