Tag Archives: Former Gov. Roy Cooper

The DNC’s Looming Decisions

By Jim Ellis — Friday, May 16, 2025

DNC

Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been appearing in rallies across the country with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Though the 2028 presidential election is years away, the Democratic National Committee leadership has looming structural decisions to make well in advance of the first nomination votes being cast.

Prospective national candidates are already beginning to make positioning moves. For example, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is attempting to move closer to the political center with his comments this week regarding the homeless and his new podcast that features guests and topics not always aligned with the ideological left.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), conducting a series of public events with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), is moving even further left in an attempt to capture the Sanders’ coalition.

Former US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is bypassing a Michigan US Senate campaign to prepare for another presidential run and already is visiting Iowa, while Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is conducting a nationwide anti-Trump tour.

All of these individual strategic moves are illustrative regarding how each person attempts to best position him or herself toward grabbing an early advantage in the forthcoming intra-party brawl for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. Before the campaigns even get underway, however, the national party leaders face controversial rule-making decisions well in advance of any contender stepping forward to campaign in the early states.

The first such task is to determine just where are the early states. You will remember that the Democrats changed the political calendar before the 2024 election when they dropped Iowa and New Hampshire from the top two slots and chose to begin in South Carolina.

The 2024 schedule does not mean the party leaders have to adhere to the same progression in 2028, and as such the individual candidates will want their say in deciding not only the geographic order, but potentially other structural rules that the DNC Rules Committee could recommend be changed.

Since the early states have proven crucial in developing momentum for eventual party nominees, all 57 voting Democratic Party entities (states, territories, and the group of those Democrats living abroad) are likely to soon begin jockeying for position. Without a Democratic President in the White House, it falls upon the DNC to take the lead in setting the ground rules for the 2028 party nomination structure.

With big state Governors such as Newsom, Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, and Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro likely to become presidential candidates, we can see a coalition forming to recommend that the mid-Atlantic states secure early positioning.

The southern contingent, led by Gov. Andy Beshear (KY) and former Gov. Roy Cooper (NC), will want their region placed early on the calendar, while some of the lesser-known contenders should advocate for smaller states going first since they are more responsive to grassroots campaign tactics that unfamiliar contenders need to give them a fighting chance.

Geographic order changes will not be the only rule discussed. We can expect the DNC to adopt a formalized procedure in the event of replacing a presidential candidate with pledged delegates who exits prior to the national convention. When President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, there was no set procedure to replace him. Thus, the committee members had to adopt a plan on the fly that included virtual voting and other procedures, which caused some controversy among certain DNC members.

Since the Rules Committee must recommend an early state schedule to the full DNC voting membership and may look at adopting an official presidential candidate replacement procedure, they could also consider changing the delegate apportionment formula.

With so many candidates likely to run, a proposal from the big state DNC members to increase their delegate share could certainly come before the rules panel. Also, some of the candidates will likely advocate restoring the Super Delegates’ (Party Leaders and Elected Officials) ability to vote on the first ballot.

The 2028 presidential campaign will unofficially begin after the 2026 midterm elections, but the party leadership’s’ first significant hurdles will come in the relative near future.

Recruiting Governors for the Senate

By Jim Ellis — Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2024

Governor

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R)

Over the weekend, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who now serves as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, was again asked in an interview if he will challenge first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) next year. As has been his practice, the Governor’s response was non-committal.

Looking at the national Senate picture for the 2026 election cycle, we see many sitting or recently term-limited Governors in a similar position to that of Gov. Kemp. In fact, there are a total of seven term-limited state chief executives who could challenge a Senator of the opposite party next year. Presidential aspirations could also play a significant role in determining which Governors might run for the Senate versus those who would want to concentrate on entering what will be an open 2028 presidential race for both parties.

In addition to Gov. Kemp, the four Governors attracting the most Senate attention are also the most prominent ones said to be weighing their national prospects.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), whose term ends at the beginning of 2026, is in position to challenge Sen. Mark Warner (D). Gov. Youngkin was discussed as a possible Vice Presidential candidate and appears to have the desire to run for President. What he may decide is unclear right now. For the Senate, though he is the best possible candidate for the GOP, Gov. Youngkin would still be at least a slight underdog to Sen. Warner.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) won’t leave office until the beginning of 2028, but he would be the best Democratic candidate to enter the now open 2026 Senate race. He has previously said he wouldn’t run for the Senate but has not ruled out running for President. Still, he will be under strong pressure from national Democrats to run for the Senate since he is realistically the only Kentuckian who may be able to deny the Republicans from hanging on to retiring Mitch McConnell’s seat.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is standing for a third term in North Carolina, a state that always features close races, and the 2026 campaign appears as no exception to that electoral pattern. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) was term-limited in 2024 and has been actively looking at both a Senate and presidential run. Like Gov. Youngkin, Gov. Cooper was also considered as a Vice Presidential running mate.

Cooper, of the four Governors with presidential hopes, appears most open to launching a Senate bid. He has said several times that he will make a decision “within a few months.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has been commonly associated with a 2028 presidential run. With Sen. Gary Peters (D) retiring, the Michigan Senate race will become one of the hottest 2026 campaigns. Since Sen. Peters has surprisingly left the Senate seat open, party leaders will certainly attempt to persuade Gov. Whitmer to jump into the race.

The party hierarchy’s argument to her should be bolstered since early 2026 Senate campaign polls find Republican former Congressman and close 2024 Senate finisher Mike Rogers leading ex-US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg tops a potential Democratic primary by a spread beyond the polling margin of error.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) cannot seek re-election, but she will draw attention from the national Democratic leaders who are desperately looking to find a credible candidate against first-term Sen. Roger Marshall (R). Though Gov. Kelly has not indicated any interest in the Senate race, nor talked about running for President, it will not escape the party strategists that she would make a race against Sen. Marshall very competitive.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), her public rift with President Trump notwithstanding, is also term-limited and could challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R). Gov. Mills would be 79 years old should she try to begin a Senate career by running in 2026. Previously, she has deflected questions about challenging Sen. Collins, but after going to war with President Trump over transgenders in school sports, her desire about entering the federal political ring may be changing.

In 2020, Democratic nominee Sara Gideon spent more than $64 million to try to defeat Sen. Collins — not counting millions more in outside spending — and led in almost all polling; however, she failed to even make the final result close, as Sen. Collins was re-elected with a 50-42 percent victory margin. Though Gov. Mills would be a stronger candidate, upending Sen. Collins still would be a difficult task.

Many 2026 questions remain to be answered, but it is possible that we could see an abnormally high number of seriously challenged Senate races soon unfolding.