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Democrats are scrambling for a new leader to head the party and organize resistance to President-elect Trump following Vice President Harris’s loss in the election last month.
Several top names have been floated as possible contenders for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, or to at least serve as a new generational voice to lead Democrats going forward. Some of those 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 more under the radar.
Here are seven potential future Democratic leaders to watch:
Chris Murphy
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) has been a regular presence in the Senate Democratic Caucus for more than a decade, but he has become more prominent in pushing for the party to take a new direction following the election.
He declared a few days after Trump won that Democrats need to broaden their tent to win back working-class voters that they have lost and embrace economic populism as their “tent pole.” He circulated these ideas more directly in a memo to Democrats a couple weeks later.
These arguments come as populist fervor has increasingly played a role in political discourse during the Trump era on both sides of the aisle. Murphy has continued to push back on the incoming Trump administration, questioning why Democrats are viewing 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 one of the top voices on gun control following the Sandy Hook, Conn., shooting, serving as a negotiator for the bipartisan gun control law in 2022.
Cory Booker
The first Black senator from New Jersey, Sen. Cory Booker (D) has been a steady presence within the Democratic caucus and is about to become one of its top leaders.
Booker’s Democratic colleagues selected him earlier this month to become the chair of the newly created Strategic Communications Committee. That will make him the fourth highest-ranking Democrat in the upper chamber after Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.).
Booker already received some national attention for his 2020 presidential run and is viewed as a possible candidate for 2028.
Now, his position leading the new committee will put him at the forefront of messaging from Senate Democrats. Booker said in a release that he plans to use “creative” messaging and new technologies and platforms to “speak directly to the American people.”
Ro Khanna
With aging leaders in Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the progressive wing of the Democratic Party also seems to have a top vacancy to fill.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) would be a much younger choice who has demonstrated progressive bona fides. He served as co-chair of Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign and has worked with him on numerous pieces of legislation in Congress.
He has vowed not to take money from political action committees and called for ending the influence of money on politics, advocated for antitrust policy and crafted somewhat of his own lane in calling for Democrats to embrace technological advancements and work with Silicon Valley, which is included in his House district.
Khanna has at times been the subject of speculation over his possible presidential ambitions. He was a surrogate for Biden and campaigned for his write-in campaign in New Hampshire, a key early state in the nominating cycle, ahead of the primary this year.
Ritchie Torres
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) was first elected to Congress in 2020, with observers seeing him as a likely addition to the progressive wing of the party. But over the past year in particular he has distanced himself from the far left and pushed for the party to take a more moderate approach.
Torres has been sharply critical of the progressive wing following the election, blaming it in part for Harris’s defeat, as he has become a more prominent voice for those who believe the party must moderate to fix its electoral issues.
He argued that Trump “has no greater friend than the far left,” which he said is more representative of social media than the “real world.”
He also appears poised to make a run in 2024 for New York governor as he has been equally critical of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), saying she is “in denial about the depths of her vulnerabilities as a Democratic nominee,” comparing her to Biden this year. If successful, becoming the governor of one of the largest Democratic bastions in the country 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 of a state, but he has received fresh attention following the election for his preparation for a second Trump term.
He has taken steps toward collaboration across the spectrum, rather than resistance, while still advocating for protecting democracy, a concern among many Trump critics. Polis and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) launched a nonpartisan state-level initiative last month called Governors Safeguarding Democracy to boost collaboration among governors to fight against threats to democracy and protect democratic institutions.
Polis received some criticism for his quick praise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department but stressed keeping an open mind, seeing him as a possible improvement to Trump’s first-term choice, Alex Azar.
Meanwhile on policy, Polis has been a bit of a maverick, opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates and owing his success as a two-term governor to cutting taxes, among other economic initiatives. Polis even received praise from Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to co-lead DOGE, for slashing regulations.
Andy Beshear
A red-state Democratic governor, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was already seen as a rising star in the party after his reelection in 2023.
But his stock rose even higher in 2024 as he was on the short list to serve as Harris’s running mate after she became the presumptive Democratic nominee. With Harris’s loss and Beshear term-limited in 2027, the Kentucky governor may become one of the top future leaders of the party.
In the aftermath of the election, Beshear has also sought to mold what the future party looks like, writing 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 own reelection victory as a road map for Democrats, arguing he won because his constituents know he cares about them and has produced “tangible” results.
He is also set to serve as chair of the Democratic Governors Association in 2026, having been elected vice chair for next year.
Wes Moore
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) only sought political office for the first time in 2022 for his successful gubernatorial run, but his name has increasingly been floated when analysts look at the future of the party.
Moore was speculated as a possible running mate for Harris until he said he wasn’t interested in the role. But he has still been included on lists of possible 2028 candidates.
He gained national attention following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March and for pardoning more than 175,000 marijuana convictions in Maryland in June.
Along with Moore’s military background, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown (D) has said Moore could be “next” after Harris “if he plays it right.”
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