ATLANTA — Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) cruised to victory for a second term Tuesday evening and effectively commenced the start of the 2028 presidential election cycle.
Taking to the stage more than an hour after the Associated Press called his race, he struck a noticeably presidential tone during his remarks in front of hundreds of supporters in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency.
“If at times these last two years, amidst the ceaseless onslaught of brutality and indecency, you doubted whether our republic would survive, let tonight’s results give you courage that the first light of God is on the horizon,” Ossoff said.
“Together, we’ve affirmed that our task is not just to contain one president’s wickedness, but to heal the brokenness beneath,” he continued. “That this moment is an opening not for restoration but for reformation.
“And so, amidst our celebration tonight, we must acknowledge that the underlying crisis gripping our republic remains, and that therefore our most vital work lies ahead.”
The next presidential cycle will be particularly crowded with a large pool of Democrats and Republicans who want to succeed President Donald Trump, who is term-limited.
Likely Democratic presidential candidates include Ossoff, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel.
Moore, Pritzker, and Shapiro each quickly sailed to victory immediately after polls closed in their respective states Tuesday.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has not indicated whether she will run again after winning the Democratic nomination in 2024 and losing to Trump in the general election.
Although Ossoff will begin a second six-year term as senator in 2027, he would not vow to complete it and not pursue presidential ambitions in 2028, when asked during his campaign this fall.
Ossoff stands out as a particularly charismatic candidate, Democratic voters in Georgia told the Washington Examiner last week. However, he is one of a dozen serious contenders expected to begin vying for the 2028 nomination starting Wednesday.
Four Democratic voters said Ossoff comes across as very personable. Theatre Macon founding artistic director Jim Crisp told the Washington Examiner that Ossoff has a “once-in-a-lifetime kind of charisma.”
“The intelligence just, it’s this aura of light that comes off of him. I mean, he’s a star. He’s a megastar,” said Crisp, 75. “When you’re in a room with him, you know the room just becomes filled with him. … He’s our presidential candidate in ’28.”
During a voter mobilization event for Ossoff in the small city of Macon on Thursday afternoon, Harris also went above and beyond to endorse Ossoff.
JON OSSOFF DEFEATS MIKE COLLINS TO HOLD GEORGIA SENATE SEAT
“He is someone who is so skilled, who is so talented, who is always lifting up the voices of the people,” Harris said. “One of the things I love about Jon is he has the ability to deconstruct and break down the things that seem like, ‘Goodness Lord, what is going on there,’ and he has a way of helping us understand what’s behind it all. The way he has been lifting up and exposing the corruption of this most callous, corrupt, and incompetent presidential administration is extraordinary, and sending him back into Washington, D.C., is going to be about continuing to fight for the rights of the people and all that is good and right.”
Republicans who are expected to pursue the nomination include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.