Progressives begin search for a new leader

Progressives are debating who should lead their movement as they seek to remake the Democratic Party in a new populist mold following devastating losses in November.

Initial conversations are starting to take place on the left among political strategists, activists and sources close to lawmakers about who is poised to advocate for their flank in the coming Trump era.

Some believe the progressive left is at its best without a dominant figurehead tethered to Washington, instead shifting much of the power and influence within the movement to the grassroots.

“The progressive movement is strongest when we aren’t over-reliant on any single leader to guide us forward,” said Usamah Andrabi, spokesperson for Justice Democrats. 

After helping to identify and recruit progressive candidates from working-class backgrounds, Andrabi says he sees an upside “when we build the collective power of the people that no amount of corporate influence or super PAC spending can break.” 

As progressives prepare to face an incoming Republican-controlled Senate and House, some believe there’s even more of an imperative to seize on the anger felt toward Democrats who lost both the executive and legislative branches of government and channel it towards a search for a strong leader. 

“They’re especially not going to care now that the Democrats got handed so thoroughly,” said Nina Turner, who co-chaired Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt) 2020 campaign. “They’re going to say they don’t want more of the same.”

“The Democrats need an opposite and equal force in terms of celebrity,” Turner said, referring to President-elect Trump.

Finding that “celebrity” figure — a charismatic leader who resoundingly rejects corporatism — has its challenges in a capitalist country. But progressives like Turner are urging fellow leftists to look beyond places like the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is thought of as a go-to pool of liberal talent, for rising stars.

“Very few of them have charisma,” Turner said. “They have a title that gets media attention. But they can’t motivate.”

“Trump was an anomaly in that,” she continued. “He was able to galvanize in a moment when people were desperate for change. And we’re right back in that moment now.”

“To me, the progressive left has the strength because this is our moment. The masses of people on the Democratic side or people who would lean Democrat, they’re over mainstream Democrats,” she said. “They’re saying ‘y’all lost.’ Who builds a monument to the losers?” 

Figures on the outside are, for now, operating on a smaller scale than those who hold office. Alternative media personalities like Cenk Uygar, Kyle Kulinski and Turner herself are being talked about in some circles, along with ex-Squad members and former Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who have ties to urban activism.

Progressives close to Sanders privately agree that at 83, he likely won't be at the top of the ticket again and have begun whispering about who could realistically take up his economic populist message and potentially have his blessing.  

But many also believe they need to turn to their existing talent to find someone who could replace him.

In the House, two young congresswomen, Reps. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), 36, and Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), 41, are being quietly discussed, along with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who also served as a top advisor for Sanders’s 2020 campaign, and the much better-recognized Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

Meanwhile, Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have been critical of Democrats in the past few weeks, creating post-election buzz about their future aspirations. Murphy, who has worked with Sanders on anti-war initiatives, publicly agreed with some of the Vermont senator’s critiques of the corporate influence of the party, while Fetterman said he would consider voting for several of Trump’s Cabinet nominees.  

Both approaches went against the establishment Democratic ethos, which is to resist Trump wholeheartedly and not appear too critical of the centrist election playbook. 

Campaign operatives who have spent the past cycles getting progressive candidates ready for prime time, however, believe this is their chance to change up the Democratic blueprint and encourage fresh talent to step up. 

To get there, they’ll face several key tests, including the 2026 midterms, and before that, the race to lead the Democratic National Committee. Conversations about 2028 could be informed by that choice. 

While some believe the top DNC job is largely symbolic — it doesn’t have sway over legislation, for example — it will be the first tangible marker of the ideological direction of a party out of power in early January following the losses this fall. 

“Progressives are weighing our options, but it’s clear the fight right now is for party leadership,” said one senior Democratic source directly familiar with current talks around the early list of names.

Progressives are pushing for Ben Wikler and Ken Martin, the state party chairs of Wisconsin and Minnesota, respectively, but are already fearful that a bigger national figure, Rahm Emanuel, a staunch centrist who served as Chicago mayor and former President Obama’s chief of staff, is the front-runner. Martin has officially declared his candidacy, while Wikler has so far been quiet.

“If the DNC opts for Rahm Emanuel, good luck,” the source said. “You will see a max exodus from the party.”

Ocasio-Cortez, whose megaphone reverberates far beyond Congress, also shared her distress over Emanuel’s name being floated. “There is a disease in Washington of Democrats who spend more time listening to the donor class than working people,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. “If you want to know the seed of the party’s political crisis, that’s it.” Another moderate, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, has also tossed his name into the race.

The ideological battle to helm the DNC is expected to foreshadow the ongoing fights that have centrists blaming progressives for their losses and vice versa. It’s also happening amid some smaller fights among progressives themselves, who are debating how much to prioritize things like personal identity over economic class. 

Governors are historically considered to be prime presidential candidates-in-training, and many statewide Democratic executives are expected to play a key role in the anti-Trump effort. 

But while traditional Democrats in the party eye up leaders like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, progressives don’t see many names who meet their populist criteria. 

One exception, some note, is Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who was considered on Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate shortlist. By sheer geography alone, the 46-year-old presides over one of the top 10 rural states in the country. 

“The guy who, I don't know, who is impressing me right now is Beshear,” said one former Sanders 2016 adviser who worked on issues affecting rural voters. 

“He has a solid list of economic accomplishments. And did not shy away from the cultural stuff,” the former adviser said. “He might be able to make the argument ‘I'm proof caring for these other things doesn’t mean you can't deliver for everyday people where it really matters. The pocketbook.’”