Overview
- Allies of Rep. Ro Khanna formed a draft committee called Run Ro that, on Nov. 5, can legally raise money and organize support for a potential 2028 presidential campaign.
- The committee is co-chaired by former Rep. Jamaal Bowman and progressive strategist Nomiki Konst and is explicitly built to center a progressive-populist message in the primary.
- Khanna welcomed the effort in a statement, listed priorities of Medicare for All, ending foreign wars, and taxing billionaires, and said he will decide with his family after the holidays.
- Khanna has spent months visiting early primary states such as South Carolina, Nevada, and Pennsylvania to raise his profile and test organizing paths without having launched a formal campaign.
- Observers note a direct jump from the House to the presidency is rare—only James Garfield won that route in 1880—so Khanna would face steep organizational and fundraising disadvantages against better-established rivals even as the draft effort seeks to mobilize progressive donors and activists.