The 2028 Democratic Presidential Power Rankings: Return of Woke Edition, Part II

Going over the top five 2028 Democratic contenders in light of the ever-increasing struggles of the Trump administration.

(Credit for the voiceover for this article goes to the great Samuel Lipson)

On November 4th, 2025, everything we thought we knew about the politics of the second Trump administration changed. Prior to the elections held on that day, it seemed as if Democratic messaging and leadership failures had doomed the upcoming midterms to be a race to the bottom, where neither side would hold a truly meaningful advantage. Now, after Democrats last month massively outran the polling averages en route to tearing off huge chunks of the 2024 Trump coalition, everything is different. According to both those results and the most recent polling averages, 2026 appears set to be something closer to a bona fide blue wave, where Democrats will have the opportunity to compete beyond the blue and purple states where their horizons have been limited for so many years.

How will this new state of affairs change the outlook of the 2028 presidential primary for what appears to be America’s new majority party? Last week, I went over the bottom half of the race’s leading candidates, reviewing the prospects of both the former frontrunners who have seen their appeals become limited by the party’s newly expanded horizons and the currently-obscure red staters in a position to ride a wave to national stardom. Now, I will go over the top of the list: both those set to soar because of the new opportunities available and those in such a strong position that they have managed to maintain their strength even in a completely new political environment.

#5: Gov. Josh Shapiro (🔻2)