The Democrats have enjoyed a hugely successful night in the U.S. midterm elections with a “blue tsunami” meaning they have won back control of both chambers of Congress.
Votes are still being counted in what has become a referendum on the second Trump presidency, but it is already clear voters have issued a stark rebuke to the commander-in-chief.
With the elections over, attention will now turn towards the 2028 presidential election and who will be the party’s candidate, as the Democrats look to take advantage of this new position of strength.
Here, The Independent takes a look at those whose stock is rising ahead of a defining Democratic primary beginning next year.
One person who is not yet on this list is Abdul El-Sayed, who will become the first Muslim senator in US history after winning a key Senate seat in the battleground state of Michigan. Running on a staunchly left-wing platform, including criticism of Israel’s war inside Gaza, he has gained nationwide attention, but made more centrist Democrats nervous.
Jon Ossoff
The 39-year-old senator, who stormed to victory in his re-election bid for the Senate with more than 59 per cent of the vote, is a rising star within the party.
US-based prediction market platform Polymarket gives him a 24 per cent chance of winning the Democratic primary to become the party’s presidential nominee, after his electoral success saw a nine-point surge in recent hours.
Ossoff has built his popularity through his direct and unsparing criticism of Trump, who he described on Tuesday night as a “lame duck president”.
He has drawn comparisons to former president Barack Obama, a strong orator with an appeal to both progressives and centrists who represents a youthful choice in an era of ageing presidents.
"Together, we’ve affirmed that our task is not just to contain one president’s wickedness, but to heal the brokenness beneath," Ossoff told a crowd of voters on Tuesday evening.
"The American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the failed lame duck president Donald J. Trump."
Polymarket now has him as the frontrunner to become the next U.S. president with an 18 per cent chance on Polymarket, leading Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by four points and Vice President J.D. Vance by five.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
The U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district, known widely as AOC, has solidified her own standing in the midterms.
Ocasio-Cortez comfortably won re-election in her seat with more than 78 per cent of the vote, with 96 per cent of votes counted.
It saw her chances of taking the candidacy boost by two points to 18 per cent, according to Polymarket.
The 37-year-old from the left of the Democrat party was first elected into her position in 2018,
She was the frontrunner for the candidacy just three months ago after a surge in her chances – which saw her given a 23 per cent chance in August – followed a high-profile interview on ABC’s This Week, in which she refused to rule out a presidential campaign.
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom, the 40th governor of California, has been one of the stories of the past year.
The 59-year-old veteran of Californian politics dominated the prediction markets for months, peaking at 40 per cent likelihood of being the Democrats presidential nominee in November last year.
But his chances have since steadily declined. Analysts say his initial popularity was partly an immediate default candidate following Trump’s re-election in 2024.
It was also a product of his combative media style and his social media presence, including X posts written in all caps and riddle with spelling mistakes in an open mockery of President Trump.
Newsom will no longer be a governor after the midterms, having fulfilled the maximum of two terms permitted in California.
In September, he said his children would have the final say on whether he takes on a 2028 presidential run.
Pete Buttigieg
The former naval officer, who served as secretary of transportation during the Biden administration, has remained steadily among the top candidates in U.S. prediction markets since Trump retook office in January 2025.
Buttigieg ran in the 2020 presidential primary, and would have become the youngest, and first openly gay, American president had his campaign been successful.
After placing fourth in the South Caroline primary, Buttigieg dropped out of the race in early March and endorsed Biden.
Polymarket currently gives him a four per cent chance of succeeding in the Democratic primary, with his chances having dropped significantly from 13 per cent one year ago.
Although Buttigieg has not officially launched a campaign, he has left the door open and refused to rule out a potential run.
Kamala Harris
Harris, the Democrat nominee for the 2024 presidential election, may be looking for a second chance.
Having served as vice president during the Biden administration, she was dealt a difficult hand when she assumed the candidacy in July 2025, after Biden eventually dropped out of the race amid mounting speculation.
Harris became the first presidential candidate to not have participated in the primaries since 1968, running the shortest presidential campaign in history at 107 days.
But ultimately, Harris failed to win over voters and proved unable to detangle herself from the legacy of the Biden administration.
Harris has not confirmed a run, but neither has she ruled it out. Polymarket give her a 3 per cent chance of being selected, but many experts believe she may be gearing up to run again.
