The shadow campaign for the 2028 presidential election is in full swing, with no shortage of signs that likely candidates are preparing to run.
The Democratic field is expected to be wide open, and ambitious party figures are dropping into the states expected to vote early on the primary calendar, cozying up to key groups of voters and hitting the podcast circuit.
Republicans have been more circumspect because President Trump is still in office, but speculation is rife about Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Even if both men run, others are likely to challenge them. (While Mr. Trump has sometimes mused out loud about the idea of a third term, the Constitution forbids it.)
Each presidential cycle, campaign kickoffs get earlier and earlier — which means we may see a flurry of announcements sometime after the November midterm elections through the first months of 2027.
Here’s an early look at people who have been floated as potential candidates, or who have taken steps consistent with testing the waters. It will be updated as the 2028 field develops:
The Vice Presidents
Kamala
Harris
JD
Vance
Vice President JD Vance has positioned himself as the political heir to Mr. Trump since the moment he was named to the Republican presidential ticket in 2024. Whether their party’s voters will see him as such remains to be seen.
Among Democrats, former Vice President Kamala Harris has the biggest name and the largest social media presence. She also has the deepest relationship with Black voters, who have swung the party’s last three competitive presidential primary races.
But many Democrats are eager to move past Ms. Harris’s 2024 defeat and would prefer a candidate without such direct ties to former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. after his disastrous re-election bid.
The Trump Administration Officials
Doug
Burgum
Tulsi
Gabbard
Pete
Hegseth
Robert F.
Kennedy Jr.
Marco
Rubio
Beyond Mr. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ran for president in 2016, has the highest profile of anyone in the cabinet and is widely seen as the vice president’s top rival if both run.
Several other cabinet officials have also run for president before: Doug Burgum, the interior secretary; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, who ran as both a Democrat and an independent in 2024; and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence. Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, has not run before but has become a national figure.
The Biden Administration Officials
Pete
Buttigieg
Rahm
Emanuel
Mitch
Landrieu
Gina
Raimondo
Several members of Mr. Biden’s government were positioning themselves for national campaigns even before Mr. Trump won in 2024.
Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary, ran a well-regarded 2020 campaign and never really stopped being a future candidate. Gina Raimondo, the former commerce secretary, appeals to donors but is little known by voters outside her native Rhode Island.
Rahm Emanuel, the former ambassador to Japan, has signaled his interest in a potential 2028 bid with a steady stream of policy proposals and campaign-like swings. And Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor who served in senior positions in Mr. Biden’s White House and re-election campaign, has suggested he may run, too.
The Democratic Governors
Andy
Beshear
Wes
Moore
Gavin
Newsom
Jared
Polis
JB
Pritzker
Josh
Shapiro
Gretchen
Whitmer
During the second Trump era, Democratic governors have seized the mantle of liberal resistance while their colleagues in Congress have toiled in the minority.
Few have been louder in their defiance of Mr. Trump than Gavin Newsom of California, who pushed through a redistricting plan to flip five Republican House seats. JB Pritzker of Illinois is a billionaire who is popular with the party’s base. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania leads an important battleground state and was the runner-up to be the party’s vice-presidential candidate in 2024. Wes Moore of Maryland has expanded his national profile from the moment he was elected in 2022.
Andy Beshear of Kentucky is a strong fund-raiser and sought-after surrogate in battleground races, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan has won big in a key swing state. Jared Polis of Colorado is a Democratic iconoclast who has sometimes been seen as eyeing higher office.
The Republican Governors
Greg
Abbott
Spencer
Cox
Ron
DeSantis
Brian
Kemp
Sarah
Huckabee
Sanders
Glenn
Youngkin
Fewer Republican governors are considered to be in the first tier of their party’s potential presidential hopefuls, but several could run.
Ron DeSantis of Florida might try again, after running a well-funded campaign in 2024 that flamed out after the first nominating contest. Greg Abbott of Texas helped change the national conversation on immigration by busing migrants from the Mexican border to faraway Democratic cities. And Brian Kemp of Georgia managed to win re-election despite a public break with Mr. Trump.
Spencer Cox of Utah always manages to find his way into national news cycles by presenting a less hard-line vision of conservative politics. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas is a former Trump White House press secretary. Glenn Youngkin, the former governor of Virginia, has considered a presidential run in the past.
The Democratic Senators
Cory
Booker
Ruben
Gallego
Mark
Kelly
Amy
Klobuchar
Chris
Murphy
Jon
Ossoff
Elissa
Slotkin
Chris
Van Hollen
Raphael
Warnock
So many senators could run for president that they might need a debate stage all their own.
Some already ran in 2020, including Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who is running for governor in 2026.
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a finalist to be the party’s 2024 vice-presidential nominee, has made little secret of his national ambitions. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland has already been to Iowa. A host of younger senators have made moves to suggest they could run, including Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
Both Georgia senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, have been discussed as presidential timber.
The Republican Senators
Katie
Britt
Tom
Cotton
Ted
Cruz
Josh
Hawley
David
McCormick
Rand
Paul
Tim
Scott
Rick
Scott
Several Republican senators are in the presidential mix, including Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, who both ran in 2016, as well as Tim Scott of South Carolina, who ran in 2024.
Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Rick Scott of Florida and Josh Hawley of Missouri have spent years building national profiles. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama is well liked by Mr. Trump and the party’s donors. Senator David McCormick of Pennsylvania won a key battleground state in 2024.
The Progressives
Alexandria
Ocasio
Cortez
Ro
Khanna
If Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York runs for president, she would be widely expected to be the leading left-wing candidate. No other progressive has demonstrated a similar level of fund-raising acumen and appeal to voters on the left.
Representative Ro Khanna of California has spent years cultivating progressive voters, and he played an integral role last year in forcing the release of the Epstein files, a significant political victory for Democrats against Mr. Trump.
The House Members
Jasmine
Crockett
Jason
Crow
Jim
Jordan
Elise
Stefanik
U.S. House members do not have a strong record of winning the presidency — James Garfield is the only one to have done so, in 1880 — but that never stops some of them from trying.
In 2028, House Democrats who could conceivably run include Representatives Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Jason Crow of Colorado.
Among Republicans, the possibilities include Representatives Elise Stefanik of New York and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
The Trump Exiles
Marjorie
Taylor
Greene
Nancy
Mace
Mike
Pompeo
Over the last decade, most Republican politicians who have feuded with Mr. Trump have been cast into exile. But it is possible that with the president term-limited, some may try to make a comeback.
One of them is former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who quit Congress as she transformed herself from a die-hard Trump loyalist into a leading critic.
Mike Pompeo served as Central Intelligence Agency director and secretary of state during Mr. Trump’s first term before being cast out in the second. Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who is running for governor, broke with Mr. Trump over the Epstein files.
The Politicians Who Could Make a Quick Leap
Byron
Donalds
Graham
Platner
Vivek
Ramaswamy
Rob
Sand
James
Talarico
After Beto O’Rourke lost his 2018 Senate race in Texas, he felt the call to run for president in 2020. It did not work out, but there could be a 2028 version of him — an attention-grabbing midterm candidate who catapults to the national stage.
Democrats who could make such a rise include James Talarico, the Texas state legislator raising large amounts of money in his run for the Senate; Graham Platner, the progressive running for Senate in Maine; and Rob Sand, the Iowa state auditor, who is running for governor.
On the Republican side, Byron Donalds in Florida and Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio could bounce from running for governor to national campaigns. Mr. Ramaswamy already ran for president in 2024.
The Media Figures
Stephen
K.
Bannon
Tucker
Carlson
Mark
Cuban
Matt
Gaetz
Stephen A.
Smith
Mr. Trump’s rise from reality show host to two-term president has led to no shortage of media figures believing there is a path for them, too.
Among them is Stephen A. Smith, the sports personality who has alternated between floating himself as a candidate and knocking down the idea that he might run. Tucker Carlson had a top Fox News show, has at times been a Trump confidant and has been floated as a presidential candidate.
Few in media have been allied with Mr. Trump as long as the podcaster Stephen K. Bannon, who was a top aide on the 2016 Trump campaign. Former Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida was Mr. Trump’s first pick for attorney general in the second term and now hosts a show on the One America News channel.
Mark Cuban, the billionaire technology executive turned sports team owner and reality show host, endorsed candidates in both parties before he became a Harris surrogate late in the 2024 campaign.
The Trump Family Members
Lara
Trump
Donald
Trump Jr.
Donald Trump Jr. has been an enthusiastic promoter of his father’s campaigns, though he has spent more time expanding the Trump family’s business operations during his father’s second term. Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, has in recent years expressed interest in Senate seats in Florida and North Carolina, though she has never formally declared herself a candidate.
