Underdogs Rising: AI's Dark‑Horse Forecast for the 2028 White House

You know all the major names, but what about the underdog presidential candidates in 2028? Who is waiting just off the radar to make a splash?

We’ve covered the top contenders for both parties in 2028, but what about the names you might’ve heard once or twice, but never considered as a possible presidential option?

We queried four of the top AI models for a list of dark horse candidates that rarely appear very high in public polling data. Each model was also asked to rank each candidate with a power index. The results were collected, normalized, and presented below for your viewing pleasure.

We’ll examine both parties, but let’s start on the Republican side just for fun.

2028 Republican Party AI Dark Horse Power Rankings

If you had to bet money, the safe play would be someone like JD Vance or Marco Rubio, or someone not far behind with a strong MAGA pedigree.

However, let’s play along with the fantasy and say that somehow MAGA loses influence in 2028 and primary voters start looking outside the current orbit and reject the idea of President Trump anointing an heir.

The models all came in with sharp disagreement on the GOP side, with lists that varied widely from each other in comparison to the Dem side. The result is a bottom-heavy chart where only a small handful of names truly stand out as legitimate “dark horse” options.

Among the top five, only Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Glenn Youngkin strike me as the most realistic underdogs to make a potential splash in 2028. Even then, both are long shots.

2028 Democratic Party AI Dark Horse Power Rankings

The noticeable difference on the Dem side is how much more agreement there is among the models, which results in a shorter, more concise list and some names that truly stand out.

The Democratic Party is still wandering a bit to find a foothold after the Biden era. So far, there hasn’t been a MAGA-like movement on the left that solidifies and galvanizes the Democratic base the way Donald Trump has with Republicans.

Among the possibilities mentioned, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear and Maryland’s Wes Moore rose to the top among all four AI models. Both candidates, in addition to Ro Khanna, would seem like plausible outside options in 2028.

Data

Here’s the individual model data if you really want to nerd out.

2028 Republican Primary Dark Horse Model Breakdown

Lists queried as of Aug 7, 2025

Order by 1 to 5, with 1 being the strongest and 5 being the weakest.

ChatGPT

• Sarah Huckabee Sanders – 1

• Joe Lombardo – 2

• Patrick McHenry – 3

• Daniel Cameron – 4

• Lee Zeldin – 5

Grok

• Tulsi Gabbard - 1

• Vivek Ramaswamy - 2

• Kristi Noem - 3

• Greg Abbott - 4

• Lara Trump - 5

Gemini

• Sarah Huckabee Sanders - 1

• Glenn Youngkin - 2

• Brian Kemp - 3

• Tom Cotton - 4

• Kristi Noem - 5

Claude

• Kari Lake - 1

• Vivek Ramaswamy - 2

• Byron Donalds - 3

• Elise Stefanik - 4

• Tulsi Gabbard - 5

2028 Democratic Primary Dark Horse Model Breakdown

Lists queried as of Aug 7, 2025

Order by 1 to 5, with 1 being the strongest dark horse and 5 being the weakest.

ChatGPT

• Wes Moore - 1

• Andy Beshear - 2

• Tammy Duckworth - 3

• Jared Polis - 4

• Mallory McMorrow - 5

Grok

• Andy Beshear - 1

• Wes Moore - 2

• Ro Khanna - 3

• Jamie Raskin - 4

• Gina Raimondo - 5

Gemini

• Andy Beshear - 1

• Ro Khanna - 2

• Wes Moore - 3

• J.B. Pritzker - 4

• Gina Raimondo - 5

Claude

• Ruben Gallego - 1

• Elissa Slotkin - 2

• Jamie Raskin - 3

• Wes Moore - 4

• Andy Beshear - 5