Democrats are divided over who will take up the progressive mantle during their 2028 presidential primary season after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) appeared to rule out a White House run during a conversation with Robert Costa at the National Press Club.
Several progressives are thought to be Sanders’s apparent heir-in-waiting, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA).
Both House Democrats have traveled to important 2028 primary states this year, raising speculation that they are laying the groundwork for a future presidential campaign.
Khanna appeared at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s annual state convention and at Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (R-SC) annual fish fry fundraiser late last month. Ron Klain, chief of staff during former President Joe Biden’s administration, is reportedly also advising Khanna.
Ocasio-Cortez made a surprise appearance at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, which is pastored by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), last month.
Sanders is close to both lawmakers and is unlikely to put his thumb on the scale for either candidate if they both run in 2028. Neither Khanna nor Ocasio-Cortez said they were likely to take up Sanders’s position in the 2028 race in interviews with the Washington Examiner.
“Sen. Sanders has inspired hundreds of thousands around the country,” Khanna said. “His movement is not going to be carried by any single individual, it’s going to be carried by people running for the House, for the Senate, for governor, for president, and that’s the beauty of what he has done.
Similarly, Ocasio-Cortez claimed the Democratic Party was “blessed to be part of a really robust progressive movement.”
“And also there I think Bernie is his own titan,” she continued. “I don’t think there’s anyone that can recreate one to one what Bernie has accomplished.”
The New York Democrat downplayed conversations about who Sanders’s heir would be.
“There’s never been one heir. Every single one of us, I think, is a beneficiary of the work that he has accomplished,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We’re all very different leaders as well, and I don’t want to be the next anyone, I want to be the first me.”
Other progressive Democrats were hesitant to say who they wanted to take up Sanders’s mantle in 2028.
“Let’s see what emerges,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who backed both Sanders’s 2016 and 2020 White House bids. “I’m of the mind that we shouldn’t pick our candidate too early.”
Jayapal called for the Democratic Party to allow the primary process to play out after the 2024 election saw former Vice President Kamala Harris hastily replace former President Joe Biden as the nominee after his shocking exit from the race.
“Let a process play out, and let’s let a lot of good people jump in, and let’s see where we are before putting our thumb on the scale,” she said. “We’ve seen how that happens.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) did not name a Democrat she wanted to see follow in Sanders’s footsteps in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
“Bernie and AOC are obviously very close, and I’m sure that AOC will continue to be who she is,” Crockett said.
Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), another member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he was still weighing 2028, but implored whoever ran to not forget about the Midwest.
“They’re good buddies of mine. I love both of them,” he said of Khanna and Ocasio-Cortez. “I haven’t decided, because I gotta see who comes to the Midwest.”
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the Sanders-founded group Our Revolution, said “no one has a lock on this base, nor should they.”
“What we’re looking for is simple: Who is actually fighting the oligarchs right now?” Geevarghese continued. “Who is showing up for working people, taking on corporate power, and delivering? Zohran Mamdani just showed the whole country what progressive governance looks like in practice. There could be surprise candidates nobody is talking about yet.”
Democrats are still hashing out which direction the party should take in 2028 as President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory exposed the weakness of Democratic policies. Centrist politicians like Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) both won their off-year elections in 2025, but New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani also won decisively the same year by running as an unabashed democratic socialist.
Outside progressive groups are already pushing whoever is running in 2028 to embrace progressive policies, including “Medicare for All,” the “Green New Deal,” and student debt cancellation.
“The next Democratic candidate has to make hard structural decisions,” said Andrea Pringle, president of March On PAC. “Passing the Voting Rights Act, protecting reproductive freedom at the federal level, and being honest about expanding the Supreme Court — because nine justices chosen for life by a broken process is not a representative institution.”
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Pringle pointed to the growing enthusiasm among Democrats to retake control of the White House but warned leaders not to play small.
“Our base voters are looking for leaders bold enough to meet the moment and brave enough to change the rules so the next generation doesn’t have to fight the same battles all over again,” Pringle said.