The 2028 presidential shadow primary is ramping up this week, with more than a half-dozen potential Democratic candidates descending on Midtown Manhattan to address influential Black activists and leaders.
At a multiday gathering of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, a parade of prominent governors and lawmakers highlighted their connections to Black communities, emphasized their commitments to protecting voting rights and coyly dodged questions about their presidential ambitions.
“I’m going to be more involved than ever before in 2028 because we can’t lose,” Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois allowed on Thursday, when Mr. Sharpton pressed him on his plans. “We have a pretty good bench. In fact, you’ve invited so many of them to come right here, they’ve been on this stage, or they’re going to be.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, as well as Representative Ro Khanna of California and Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona, also took part in conversations with Mr. Sharpton. On Friday, two of the highest-profile possible contenders are expected to address the gathering.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 presidential nominee who is stepping up her political appearances, will go first, followed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020 but struggled to connect with Black voters. Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky is scheduled to speak on Saturday.
For decades, Black voters have been perhaps the most significant constituency in contested Democratic presidential primaries, most recently propelling Joseph R. Biden Jr. to the presidential nomination in 2020 after ignominious showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.
But — at least at this way-too-early juncture — it is not yet clear which potential 2028 candidate has the advantage with Black leaders, voters and activists nationally and in the traditional early-voting presidential primary states.
Ms. Harris, the first Black woman to win a major party’s nomination, has built relationships with key leaders and is a household name. Yet Ms. Harris — who is headlining a fund-raiser next week in support of the South Carolina Democratic Party and making other stops across the South — would also encounter significant challenges if she were to run again, after her 2024 loss to President Trump led to calls in the party to embrace new standard-bearers.
“I don’t think anyone clears the field in 2028,” said Clay Middleton, a Democratic National Committee member from South Carolina, where Black voters play a dominant role in the presidential primary. None of the names being tossed around right now, he suggested, “would prevent other people from getting in, and being competitive.”
In some ways, the National Action Network gathering heralded the many Democratic cattle calls to come ahead of 2028, with speakers promoting their home state records, stressing that Black voters must not be taken for granted by the party, and looking for points of connection — speaking about faith, for example — with the crowd.
“What I’m most proud of? I was raised right by my family, I was trained right by the United States Army and I serve a mighty God,” Mr. Moore said in remarks that brought many to their feet. “I know where my strength comes from.”
Speaking with reporters later, Mr. Moore, the first Black governor of Maryland, was asked about the inroads Republicans made with Black men in 2024 and how his party could reverse course.
“We need to do more than just tell Black people they’re appreciated — I think you actually need to appreciate them,” he said. Encouraging his party to show urgency in acting on voters’ priorities, he added, “We have known what it feels like to be neglected over and over and over again.”
Onstage, many laced into Mr. Trump over issues including his calls to “nationalize” elections and his stewardship of the war in Iran.
“If you don’t know why you went in, you sure as heck don’t know when it’s time to come out, or how to get out,” Mr. Shapiro said.
But Mr. Pritzker cautioned Democrats against spending too much time discussing threats to democracy at the expense of speaking clearly about pressing pocketbook issues.
“You talk to voters at the door, and you say, ‘What’s the most important issue to you?’ Five out of 100 will tell you ‘democracy,’” Mr. Pritzker said. He added, “Everybody uses this word ‘affordability,’ but we need to talk about it in very plain language. It needs to be about lowering costs for people.”
One common theme among the speakers: deflecting questions about the 2028 presidential election and insisting the focus should be on the midterms in 2026.
“If we don’t have a fair election in November,” Mr. Pritzker warned at one point, “we won’t have any more elections.”
Mr. Moore, who like Mr. Pritzker and Mr. Shapiro is up for re-election this fall, similarly sought to steer the discussion to the importance of the midterms.
“I’m hungry,” Mr. Moore told the crowd. “But I’m not thirsty. And I need people to take this moment seriously.”
Katie Glueck is a Times national political reporter.
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