Allies of Representative Ro Khanna launch campaign project for 2028 presidential election

Allies of Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, are launching an effort to lay the groundwork for his presidential bid, the leaders of a new editorial board told NBC News.

Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and progressive strategist Nomiki Konst are co-chairs of the group — “Run Ro” — which can raise money from donors and begin to build support for a Khanna candidacy while he continues to weigh in on a 2028 bid.

The move comes immediately after a midterm election in which voters swept Democrats to power in the House and Senate, with some prominent progressives among the big winners. It also comes as the party’s left wing searches for a new champion who can run in the progressive path that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., occupied in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

“By launching now, we are trying to ensure that the presidential primary debate is framed from a progressive populist perspective,” Konst said.

The challenges facing Khanna’s possible candidacy are immense. Only one person has been elected to the presidency directly by the House: James Garfield, R-Ohio, in 1880.

Khanna, a lawmaker serving his fifth term, has made headlines with his bipartisan efforts to force the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s files and end the war in Iran. Still, he’s not even the most famous progressive in the House considering a presidential run.

That unofficial title belongs to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who has not yet said whether she will run for president, seek a Senate seat in New York or remain in the House.

“She’s my sister and I love her,” Bowman said of Ocasio-Cortez, with whom he shared a close alliance in the House. “Ro Khanna has shown the work ethic, humility and vision we need right now.”

Khanna, who was co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 campaign, is also a favorite of progressives across the country. And he’s been traveling to early primary states for months. He does not hide his presidential ambitions and many of his colleagues believe he will enter the race.

He welcomed the committee’s plan in a statement to NBC News.

“I’m honored that people are encouraging me to run on a plan for Medicare for All, ending foreign wars and taxing billionaires,” he said. “We need America’s Next New Deal. Whether I run or support someone else is something I will decide with my family after the holidays.”

Konst said the selection committee would allow him and Bowman to organize now so that Khanna would not be late to the game if he showed up.

“Centrists organize and strategize early,” she said. “They have had their donors, corporate consultants and leaders aligned for years. Building on lessons from past primaries, our goal is to channel progressive energy into a container to organize and spread our winning message as soon as possible, because we can’t wait for politicians to align.”

No candidate has yet entered the running for the Democratic nomination for the 2028 presidential election.