Democratic governors are diverging in their approaches to President Trump amid mounting speculation that some of them are gunning for the White House in 2028.
Some are digging their heels into resistance efforts, as in Illinois, where Gov. JB Pritzker (D) this week trolled Trump’s plan to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Others are taking a softer approach, as in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is working with Trump to help the Golden State recover from wildfires.
Pritzker and Newsom are among several Democratic governors — along with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and others — who have generated early 2028 chatter. Their varied engagements with Trump underscore the complexities of navigating a Republican power trifecta in Washington, and the high stakes for Democrats as they look toward the next presidential election.
“There’s a pretty marked dichotomy between those Democratic governors in swing states and those in safe states,” said Dan Schnur, a political communications professor at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley. “Someone like JB Pritzker in Illinois can afford to go out to Trump with both barrels at every opportunity. Gretchen Whitmer is a governor in a much more purple state, so she has to be much more careful.”
Democrats have been looking to the governors of blue states as a line of defense against the barrage of executive actions and controversial policies coming out of the Trump White House, from pledging to protect progressive policies to urging party leadership to get more aggressive with Trump.
“I think the Trump strategy of flooding the zone with chaos is making the Democratic Party leaders probably reorganize and figure out how to resist,” said Democratic strategist Alvina Vasquez. “They’re going to have to get creative in how they’re resisting.”
So-called resistance efforts are further complicated for governors who may be gearing up for their own Oval Office runs. Several — including Newsom, Whitmer and Shapiro — were floated last year as potential contenders to join former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign, and they’re already filling out the party’s hypothetical 2028 bench.
An Emerson College poll taken after the election found Harris as the 2028 Democratic front-runner, with 37 percent of respondents supporting her and all other potential candidates in the single digits. But it’s not set in stone that Harris, who has also seen promising early polling for the California governor’s race, will try again for the White House.
Newsom snagged second place in that polling, followed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Whitmer and Shapiro. Another late November poll from Puck News and Echelon Insights similarly found Harris ahead, with Newsom and Shapiro next up.
None have formally declared a bid, but 2028 could be part of their calculus as they engage with Trump.
“There will be governors who see the route to their party’s nomination in 2028 as being the chief critic of President Trump,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego, and the author of “The Power of American Governors.” He said such a lane is “really designed to impress Democratic primary voters in 2028.”
Then there’s a route that would appeal more to a national general election audience, Kousser said, and that’s a “more loyal opposition, find-areas-for-common-ground” approach.
Newsom, who has long been seen as positioning himself for higher office, faces a delicate dance in solidly blue California as he walks that balance while also advocating for his wildfire-torn state.
Newsom called a special legislative session to address Trump’s election and warned of the possible “consequences of his presidency,” drawing the president’s ire. But after Newsom lobbied for disaster aid in Washington last week, the governor told CNN that he has “all the confidence in the world that it’s going to be a strong partnership moving forward.”
“Both Newsom and Trump have benefited tremendously from their attacks on each other, but right now, Newsom can’t afford to take that approach,” Schnur said.
Over in Illinois, which Harris won by 11 points, Pritzker has particularly been critical of early Trump administration actions on immigration, saying he would cooperate to remove “violent criminals” but called indications that officials could target law-abiding migrants and those with jobs and families in the U.S. “quite disturbing.” He also took a jab at Trump in response to a lawsuit challenging the state’s sanctuary status, saying “unlike Donald Trump, Illinois follows the law.”
Illinois Democratic strategist Aviva Bowen said Democratic political leaders “are doing what they believe is most important to defend their state and families right now,” and that strong policy can be politically effective too.
“I’ve heard him and others describe his approach sometimes as ‘happy warrior,’” she said.
“I think their job right now is what we’re seeing many of them, like Gov. Pritzker, doing, which is focusing on 2025, not 2028,” Bowen said. “What’s often good policy ends up being good politics. But there are policies he’s fighting back against … that are actively hurting working families.”
Pritzker has also gone after Trump’s tariff policies, arguing “working families will pay the price.”
Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has walked a fine line between criticism and some openness to Trump. He surprised some observers with quick praise for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, saying he would be an improvement from Trump’s first-term choice.
Polis said during his State of the State address last month that he would “welcome” additional federal assistance to deport “dangerous criminals,” but migrants who had not committed a crime should be able to stay. He also declared his support on Monday for Trump’s order to halt the production of the penny to save money.
“I do think he’s having a nuanced approach because anything he does say could put more Coloradans at risk because of the way that Trump is leading,” said Vasquez, who served as political director for Polis’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign.
She said Polis is taking the same approach as his 2018 campaign when he spoke to everyone regardless of their party, which could “open doors” for him in 2028.
“The campaign slogan was, ‘Let Jared be Jared,’ and so he really has his own way of doing things whether people like it or not,” Vasquez said. “I do think the personality of what is the most practical, pragmatic way is [Jared’s] way.”
A spokesperson for Polis told The Hill that he is focused on doing what is best for Colorado: saving people money, cutting housing and health care costs, protecting air quality and making communities safer.
“The Governor hopes that there are opportunities to work with the new administration on these important affordability issues,” they said.
Meanwhile, swing-state Democrats are treading carefully.
In battleground Michigan, Whitmer stressed after the election that she wasn’t part of Governors Safeguarding Democracy, a resistance group kick-started after the election by Pritzker and Polis. She said in remarks around Trump’s inauguration last month that she wants to find common ground with the president, though she wouldn’t back down on issues like Trump’s controversial tariff plans.
Shapiro, another swing-state governor who some argued would have been a better pick for Harris’s campaign than Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), hasn’t been the most vocal in attacking Trump over the past month. He told a Philadelphia ABC affiliate last month that he respects “the will of the people” and that he hopes for Trump’s success. But he has also criticized a few of Trump’s moves since the president was sworn in.
“We’re going to find opportunities to work with him. I trust he will find opportunities to work with me, support the people of Pennsylvania,” he told the outlet. “When he does something I disagree with, I will not hesitate to stand up to him.”
Shapiro slammed Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza in an interview with Stephen A. Smith, calling it “deeply disrespectful” and possibly a violation of international law.
“Your power goes away the more you scream about everything,” Vasquez said. “You really do have to pick the things that are going to be the worst.”
