PHOENIX, Ariz. – Democratic governors are in the club everyone wants to join.
At the Democratic Governors’ Association conference last week at the Arizona Biltmore, the donors, lobbyists, operatives and journalists in attendance could have found two governors-elect who abandoned the U.S. House to win their seats, a senator hoping to join them in escaping Washington, three former high-ranking administration officials hoping to run their states and even two candidates who were still Republicans when President Donald Trump won in 2024.
As many as eight of the Democratic governors in attendance are seen as potential candidates for the presidency in 2028. Leaders of the group boldly predicted both incredible success for gubernatorial candidates in the midterms and said there was little doubt one of their ranks would ascend to the presidency in January 2029. It was all a remarkable display of bravado for a political party totally locked out of power at the federal level.
But underneath it all, there were signs of a party still searching its way through the wilderness. Yes, the governors are confident they can hammer Trump and other Republicans about the high cost of living in order to triumph in the midterms, but worries remain about proving liberal governance can both outperform conservative states and ultimately defeat the authoritarian threat posed by Trump and his acolytes.
