The power vacuum at the top of the Democratic Party has created a fresh competition to steer its ship through the political wilderness. Contenders have emerged from across the Democratic sweep: Squad sisters, media mouths, graying senators, and motley liberal luminaries vie for the influence and notoriety that come with being “the face” of the party.
The past month features a shake-up in the Washington Examiner’s Resistance 2.0 Power Rankings, with a pair of blue state governors rising and an abundance bro making his first appearance.
Read last month’s rankings here.
10. Chuckles (last month: 9 
)
A big hat tip where it’s due. It is a remarkable testament to his talent for survival that he could last as Senate Minority Leader after a month like Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) just had. Confronted by protesters from his own party outside his Park Slope home, accused of folding like a napkin by fellow Democrat leaders such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and thrashed by Democrat-friendly media, Schumer has mastered the art of clinging to power just long enough for the news cycle to spin away from him.
9. The Voxfather (last month: NA, 
)
The New York Times’s resident explainer-in-chief Ezra Klein cannonballed into the Democratic conversation with the release of Abundance, co-authored by the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson. Klein, whose artfully stubbled chin-scape befits a man too busy pondering policy to shave, has been everywhere lately. Appearing on Jon Stewart’s podcast, Klein explained the mind-numbing process of achieving a grant under the “Build Back Better” bill, pinning the blame squarely where it belongs — on the Democratic Party. Klein’s advocacy for unclogging the pipes of government is building a permission structure on the Left to talk about its dysfunction openly. It’s a commendable, if hopeless, cause.
8. The Nutty Professor (last month: 8, )
It’s incredible to think that less than a decade ago, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was considered the future of the Democratic Party and a presidential front-runner. Warren had a relatively quiet month following a ballistic February, which saw her discover new levels of shrill at Cabinet confirmation hearings. The former Harvard professor’s advocacy for fired federal employees played well to the college-educated but left the working class cold. She brought Doug Kowalewski, formerly of the National Science Foundation, to Trump’s Joint Address to Congress, which begged the question: Why hadn’t she ever invited a laid-off worker to such an event?
7. Cory Booker-me on your show, please (last month: NA, )
Democratic voters have been screaming for their leaders to “do something” for months. And Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) was just the man to give them that “something.” Booker’s marathon speech on the Senate floor, breaking the all-time filibuster record, was mostly unintelligible, buggy-eye schlock. But it was “something” — and that alone is enough to give him a spot in the April power rankings.
Whether it’s shoveling the streets of Newark as mayor or shouting until his feet give out in the Senate, Booker’s knack for useless headline-grabbing gestures is undeniable. It’s the stuff medium-tier politicians are made of.
6. Princess Jasmine (last month: 6 )
Is there really no such thing as bad press? Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) has been testing that theory of late.
Crockett has kept her name perpetually in the headlines in the past month, mostly through cheap theater and crass, Trumpian putdowns of her rivals. Speaking at a Human Rights Campaign event, the acid-tongued congresswoman mocked Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R-TX) disability by calling him “Governor Hot Wheels.” Abbott has used a wheelchair since a 1984 accident. The audience, likely filled with people who were apoplectic over Trump’s mockery of a disabled New York Times reporter a decade earlier, belly-laughed in unison.
Crockett also recently snatched a phone from a reporter’s hand and called for Elon Musk to be “taken down,” which earned her a rebuke from Attorney General Pam Bondi.
She’s transforming from a “rising star” to a “train wreck you can’t ignore.” But these days, is there really a difference?
5. Tim-ber! (last month: NA, )
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) makes his first appearance in the Resistance 2.0 Power Rankings after reemerging from his ticket’s November defeat. He’s been on a red-state stand-up tour, with stops in Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin, that’s been part equal parts 2024 postmortem and 2025 whimpering fit. First, he said Democrats didn’t embrace woke enough, and then that Democrats were too “theoretical.” He called Musk a “South African nepo baby” and told a crowd of Iowans that America needs “a shadow government to stand up to this administration.”
The past month has been classic Walz: barely decipherable “everyman” cosplay with a healthy dose of contradiction and a hint of the sinister.
You really have to be a sucker to buy Walz’s shtick. I mean, a total sucker. He’s all flannel, no ax — and who knows what else.
4. Pothole Pete (last month: 5 )
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced his intentions not to run for senator or governor in Michigan in 2026, fueling speculation that he’s gearing up for another White House bid.
On the surface, as is always the case with Mayor Pete, his grand ambitions seem justified. He always registers in the top tier of polling for 2028 Democratic aspirants. He’s phenomenal on TV — his Fox appearances prove he’s the party’s best communicator beyond the bubble. His identity as a midwestern, gay Navy vet makes him a natural favorite in Democratic politics.
However, as is also commonly the case with Pete, the sum of his parts never seems to add up to something greater than the whole. He performed strongly in the media in March following the Signal snafu but then faded away.
3. Mousse-olini (last month: NA )
The fastest riser in the April rankings is sure to cause the most second-guessing. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has been pilloried by all sides of late. His sudden openness to engaging with conservatives and their ideals has been panned as phony, slimy, and desperate — and yes, the shift is all those things.
But here’s what no one wants to admit — Newsom’s move to the middle is also smart, bold, and necessary.
The Democratic Party ran itself off the cliff of political viability in recent years, and climbing back up would always be messy. It was always going to require a few icky moments, such as when he told Charlie Kirk that “not one person ever in my office has ever used the word Latinx, so can we finally put that to bed? I don’t even know where it came from,” despite saying it himself on camera repeatedly. And who is better suited to execute a sleazy, expedient political shift than Newsom? It’s a political talent he has in spades.
And he’s smart — he knew the flip-flopping would draw fire. But he did it for the good of his party. It may have been his first real display of leadership in public life.
2. The Salad Spinner (last month: 2)
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has had a quiet month. Staying quiet is the smart play for someone who sounds like her when she talks. And she knows it. Remember when she didn’t give an interview for a month after securing the nomination and only showed up on CNN with a chaperone? That was intentional. Her lofty position was secured; her best play was not to blow it by speaking.
The same dynamic holds today. Harris maintains a massive lead in early 2028 Democratic presidential polling — a new YouGov poll shows Democratic voters think Harris is the “ideal candidate” over second-place Buttigieg by a 3:1 margin. Betting markets are less bullish on Harris’s chances to retake the nomination, but until her polling numbers slide, Harris remains a major power player.
1b. Bern Baby Bern! (last month: 3 )
Let’s face it: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an avowed anti-establishmentarian with a fiercely loyal base, was built for this moment in Democratic politics. The Democratic Party’s strategic shift away from race politics and toward class politics makes Sanders the party’s lead pitchman by default. And for a party with approval ratings toiling in the low 20s, he’s a legitimate draw. Approximately 34,000 people showed up to see Sanders speak in Denver a couple of weeks ago as a part of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Sure, it was mostly white college graduates worried about things such as “climate justice,” but 34,000 is at least a faint pulse for a party that’s flat-lined.
Sanders, 83, is likely too old to take another shot at the White House. But with the establishment on the mat, whomever he chooses to inherit his movement will have a strong shot at the Democratic throne.
1a. The Bronx Bomber (last month: 1)
That brings us to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who remains the most plausible leader of the Democratic Party in the early days of Resistance 2.0. Ocasio-Cortez has been at Bernie’s side for the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour and in the headlines, leading the charge against Schumer’s decision to avoid a government shutdown. A growing chorus of Democrats is urging her to primary Schumer in New York, and polls show her as the favorite in that hypothetical.
A CNN poll in late March found that Democratic voters believe Ocasio-Cortez reflects the party’s values better than any other (and not to toot my horn, but last month’s power rankings nailed the top three in this poll). Numerous recent think pieces in prestige liberal outlets have reflected on her rise, including a Vanity Fair article that credits her with “bringing life to the party” and a New York Times piece titled “As the Left Looks to 2028, It Waits on Ocasio-Cortez’s Big Decision” that muses on her 2028 potential as Sanders’ heir.
PROGRESSIVE LAWMAKERS FILL LEADERSHIP VACUUM AFTER DEMOCRATS’ 2024 LOSSES
“She is what’s next — if she wants it,” the article declares.
And by all indications, she does.