A CNN panel has identified the Democratic frontrunners for the 2028 presidential election with a new name added to the mix.
While the 2028 election is still three years away, some can’t help but speculate who will end up on the ticket. While there’s been talk about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s rise in popularity thanks to his social media trolling efforts against President Donald Trump and a potential matchup between progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, and Vice President JD Vance, there’s one Democrat some may be overlooking.
Senator Raphael Warnock’s name popped up in a recent panel discussion on CNN’s Inside Politics. Warnock was elected Georgia’s first Black senator in 2021 and has been a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church for about two decades.
On Wednesday, CNN’s Dana Bash had her panel look at the odds of prominent Democrats winning the party’s 2028 presidential nomination based on prediction market company Kalshi.
Bash said Newsom’s odds “shot up,” showing that he has a 36 percent chance at being the Democratic presidential nominee.
“And in fact, he shot up in August when he started the fight for, which he won, for Prop50 to change the [congressional] maps in response to the fact that Texas changed the maps mid-decade. AOC is very far behind him. And [former Vice President] Kamala Harris even behind AOC,” Bash said.
Ocasio-Cortez had a 9 percent chance at the nomination and Harris trailed with 7 percent.
Bloomberg opinion columnist Nia Malika Henderson later chimed in: “The other person I might add to that is Raphael Warnock out of Georgia, who is [an] incredibly talented politician, has won in Georgia, just recently gave a speech about spirituality and affordability at the Center for American Progress. So, he is the one I think, to that list of 500 people, I would add him.”
NBC News’ Kristen Welker mentioned Warnock’s Center for American Progress speech on Meet the Press earlier this month and asked how faith can address “the deepening divides” in America.
Warnock said, “There’s kind of a spiritual heaviness in the land as people see a deepening and widening chasm between what they need from their government. Everything is basic as the safety of their children when they leave them…on a school campus all the way to healthcare. And as that chasm broadens, I think a kind of cynicism and despair sets in.
“And rather than people turning toward each other, they are tempted to turn on each other. And that creates just the kind of atmosphere where strongmen emerge, promising to solve all of our problems in one fell swoop. We have to resist that and recognize that the way to our own wholeness and well being is to affirm the humanity of our neighbors,” he added.
Warnock later added, “Donald Trump, if he’s better at something than anybody else, it’s dividing us.”
He then went on to attack Trump’s economic agenda, saying that people’s “cost for health are doubling while Congress engages in everyday political games. They’re seeing their utility costs go up, their grocery costs go up.”
While affordability still remains an issue for many Americans, inflation is cooling. The Consumer Price Index, which tracks changes in the prices consumers pay for goods and services, found that prices rose at a 2.7 percent annual rate in November, down from 3 percent in September.
Trump later lashed out at Warnock on Truth Social, writing, “Warnock spent the entire show using Religion to try and divide the Country! If a Republican, in particular ME, made those statements, it would be FRONT PAGE NEWS. He ended by saying that he was going to his Church to preach now, and while I think that’s fine, I do say, ‘What ever happened to separation of Church and State?’ That would be the first thing they would use against us but, actually, it’s something that never much bothered me.”
In response to his attack, Warnock said in an Instagram video, “Mr. President, my faith is not a weapon, it’s a bridge, and I invite you to Bible study. Maybe you can meet the Jesus I know. In the meantime, I’m going to keep fighting for the people.”
While some are predicting nominees for the 2028 presidential election, Democrats have a more pressing matter — the 2026 midterm elections. To gain control of Congress, Democrats will have to win a net gain of about four seats in the Senate and five seats in the House.
