Top polling analyst believes this Democrat is runaway favorite for 2028 presidential pick

A leading polling analyst has named his preferred candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

Nate Silver, who correctly predicted that Democrats would reclaim control of both the House and Senate in the midterm elections, revealed his choice Saturday at the Crooked Con political conference.

Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, fresh off his re-election victory, would be "a slam dunk number one pick," Silver said, according to The Daily Beast.

"He won by what was like 16, 17, 18 points or something," Silver said. "He seems like the uniformly 'compromise candidate' between the progressive and the more centrist factions of the party. And he seems very talented."

Silver, who founded FiveThirtyEight and publishes the Silver Bulletin newsletter, also suggested that the 39-year-old senator's looks could work in his favor. "Is he looksmaxxing or something?" he asked.

A Georgetown graduate and former Capitol Hill staffer, Ossoff was first elected to the Senate in 2021, becoming the nation's first Jewish senator and the first Democrat elected to a full term in Georgia since 1996.

He has built a reputation as a moderate Democrat and outspoken critic of the Trump administration, drawing widespread attention this summer for pressing a Trump nominee on the outcome of the 2020 election.

On Tuesday, he won re-election with 59 percent of the vote, defeating Republican challenger Mike Collins, who received 41 percent. In his victory speech, he said the midterm results were proof "the American people have rejected the failed lame duck president Donald J. Trump."

Over the past two weeks, his odds of winning the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination have surged on online prediction platforms. He has emerged as the front-runner on both Kalshi and Polymarket, overtaking New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Silver is not alone in seeing Ossoff as a potential presidential contender.

"He's their new Obama," Fox News host Laura Ingraham wrote of the senator this summer.

"Ossoff would be a very interesting candidate," Hank Sheinkopf, a former adviser to Bill Clinton, told The Observer this month. "Because he's in the center, he represents a southern state, his rhetoric fits the moment, and he looks the part. He could be a real player."

Some strategists have said that Ossoff's stance toward Israel could undermine his chances of winning the Democratic nomination.

The senator has described himself as "a committed supporter of the State of Israel," while criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accusing Israeli forces of violating the law in Gaza. Speculation about Ossoff's political future became a line of attack during his Senate campaign.

Collins accused his opponent of treating the Senate as a stepping stone to the presidency, telling supporters ahead of Election Day: "All he cares about is using us as a platform." He had previously labeled Ossoff a "globetrotting trust fund kid."

Ossoff, in turn, said Collins held "disqualifying ties to white nationalism and neo-Nazi ideology."

Despite growing White House buzz, Ossoff has said his focus remains on the Senate. "I have zero interest in running for president. I'm not running for president," he said last month.