Last week I noted that if progressives want to replace Chuck Schumer as leader of the Democrats in the Senate, they’ll need to get the caucus to unite behind an alternative, and one of the complications is that . . . if not quite every Democratic senator is thinking of running for president, it sometimes feels that way.
Senators Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey just coincidentally did events in the likely early primary state of New Hampshire last week.
Myra Adams argues that Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona is being overlooked as an option, and reports he’s leaving the door open; this year, he’s visited Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina.
Arizona’s other Democratic senator, Ruben Gallego, has visited Iowa and New Hampshire and was scheduled to do an event in Nevada this year, but postponed it after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota visited New Hampshire. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland visited Iowa.
Elissa Slotkin of Michigan is touting her “war plan” against the Trump agenda and is allegedly interested in running.
Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has been quiet lately, but in 2021 she said she was interested in running for president again, but not in 2024. Veteran Democratic operative David Plouffe said that Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock could have and should have considered a presidential bid if Joe Biden had not run for another term.
There are 47 Democratic senators; by my count, nine Democratic senators are either interested or, at minimum, letting the speculation about themselves continue.
In other words, almost 20 percent of the Senate Democratic Caucus is thinking about running for president in 2028.
For what it’s worth, no current Democratic senator is polling at more than 3 percent in New Hampshire right now.