Gina Raimondo is considering running for president in 2028, she told veteran political operative David Axelrod on Tuesday.
“Yes,” she said, when pressed at a University of Chicago Institute of Politics event. Axelrod in a post on X called the answer “characteristically direct.”
The former Commerce secretary under President Joe Biden is among the first of the potential 2028 candidates to acknowledge an interest in running.
“I care deeply about this country, I’ve dedicated 15 years to public service and if I think there’s a big way for me to serve again including running, I’ll do it,” Raimondo said. “But I also, if I thought somebody else would be better, or better able to win, I’d get behind that person in a minute.”
Before joining the Biden administration, Raimondo was twice elected as governor of Rhode Island, becoming the first woman to lead the state. In 2020, she co-chaired former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign and was reportedly considered for the role of vice president by Biden’s team.
In January, after leaving the White House, Raimondo joined the Council on Foreign Relations as a distinguished fellow.
On Tuesday, she cautioned that the Democratic Party might be far away from challenging Republicans at the national level.
“How will we overcome this impression that we’re elitist, we’re out of touch, we don’t have our sense on the culture?” Raimondo said. “There’s so much to do. I don’t know how many cycles it’s gonna take. There’s a reason there were a dozen years between Carter and Clinton. And I don’t know where we are in that cycle.”