As Aristotle once said, nature abhors a vacuum. He was wrong in a strictly scientific sense, but yes, when someone’s about to vacate their political office, there’s generally a rush of candidates hoping to fill that void.
Take the 2028 U.S. presidential election for example. The Republican Party will need a new nominee, assuming Donald Trump doesn’t finagle his way into a third term. And the Democratic Party is rebuilding after their 2024 loss to Trump and the GOP. Who will they choose? BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review) has politics odds for both parties as we go to press, and the top candidates for both sides might be looking over their shoulders right now.
Will Vance Run in 2028?
The Vice President-elect is the runaway favorite (+140) at the top-rated sportsbooks to lead the GOP into battle. This is a relatively new market (Vance remains +275 to win the presidency), so apparently it’s no longer a given that Vance will be the Republican nominee.
Here are some of the other names who could take top billing on the 2028 GOP ticket:
| Potential Nominee | BetOnline Odds |
|---|---|
| J.D. Vance | +275 |
| Donald Trump Sr. | +500 |
| Ron DeSantis | +1000 |
| Marco Rubio | +1200 |
| Ivanka Trump | +1200 |
| Kristi Noem | +1800 |
| Nikki Haley | +2500 |
The most notable name on that list is the President-elect. He keeps “joking” about serving a third term, as he did again when he spoke to House Republicans two weeks ago, but the 22nd Amendment says you can only be elected twice. Getting that overturned would require a two-thirds majority in each of the House and Senate; the GOP only has slim majorities within both chambers.
Will It Be Newsom or Shapiro in 2028?
Probably neither. The race for Democratic nominee is still a dead heat at +450 between California Gov. Gavin Newson and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, but that still leaves a 60% implied probability that someone else will get the nod.
It could be Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Her odds have improved from +1200 last week to +800; the further away we get from the 2024 election, where millions of voters spurned Kamala Harris, the more palatable another female candidate may appear to Dem supporters.
Or maybe the Democrats will nominate one of the other leading contenders at BetOnline:
| Potential Nominee | BetOnline Odds |
|---|---|
| Gavin Newsom | +450 |
| Josh Shapiro | +450 |
| Kamala Harris | +450 |
| Gretchen Whitmer | +800 |
| Wes Moore | +1200 |
| Andy Beshear | +1400 |
| Michelle Obama | +1600 |
There’s the former First Lady again. As usual, Obama is being courted to lead the Dems to victory in 2028, just like her less popular husband Barack did in 2008 and 2012. You may recall that Ipsos poll from July that had Michelle Obama as the only one of their listed Democrats who would beat Trump in a hypothetical matchup. But she keeps saying no, emphatically.
Will The Rock Run in 2028?
I assume you mean Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and not former two-time boxing champ Hasim “The Rock” Rahman. The former’s movie career may be just about over at age 52, but Johnson told Fox News in April that “as of now” he had no interest in entering politics. If you believe that, you might also believe professional wrestling is real; meanwhile, Johnson is on the board at +3300 to become the Democratic nominee for 2028.
Why aren’t there any Republican odds for The Rock? He may have endorsed Biden in 2020, but Johnson refused to endorse Harris (or anyone else) this time around. He’s labeled himself a “political independent and centrist” who has voted both Democrat and Republican in the past; Trump was much the same before he launched his GOP takeover in 2015, after winding down work on his reality TV show The Apprentice.
Maybe Johnson wants to see what happens with Trump before he throws his hat in the squared circle. While we’re waiting, check the politics page at BetOnline for the latest 2028 Trump odds and more as we get ready for another four years on the campaign trail.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
