The past few days have definitely shed light on the direction of the Democratic Party—as well as the identities of the candidates most poised to lead it into the future. While the main agenda of the Democratic National Convention was establishing Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris as a leader, there were plenty of other skillful Democratic orators whose speeches set the tone for an energetic and election-ready convention. Below, meet five of the standout political players from this year's DNC, all of whom we're expecting to see more of.
Jasmine Crockett Crockett, a representative for Texas's 30th congressional district, displayed a dazzling gift for plain-spoken yet inspiring rhetoric during her DNC speech, noting that Harris "worked at McDonald's while she was at college in an HBCU," while her opponent, former president and 2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump, "was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and helped his daddy in the family business." Roast him again! (Also, not to distract from Crockett's oratory powers, but the outfit? Perfection.) Hakeem Jeffries As the House Minority Leader, Jeffries is no stranger to speaking at Democratic events, but his likening of Trump to an old boyfriend—“Bro, we broke up with you for a reason.
Donald Trump can spin the block all he wants, but there’s no reason for us to ever get back together”—was a pitch-perfect Taylor Swift reference that ably embodied the defiant mood of the convention. Lateefah Simon Nobody can capture you quite like a longtime friend, and that's exactly what Simon—a longtime organizer and candidate for California's 12th Congressional District—did for Harris, telling the audience: “I saw Kamala Harris holding the hands of sexual assault survivors. I saw scores of mothers who lost their babies to gun violence, lining up day after day at the courthouse, waiting only to speak to Kamala because they knew that she would hear them.
She hears your story, she carries it with her. When she sees you, she truly sees you.” Andy Beshear I'm as charmed as the next person by Harris's selection of vice presidential nominee and extremely midwestern dad Tim Walz .
But I have to admit, when I heard Kentucky governor Andy Beshear (one of only two Democratic statewide elected officials in Kentucky) give a full-throated defense of reproductive rights at the DNC, I couldn't help envisioning him on a national ticket. Maybe in 2028? Ruwa Romman Romman, a Palestinian American granddaughter of refugees who is the first Muslim woman to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives, didn't speak at the DNC, prompting a sit-in from uncommitted delegates protesting U.S.
involvement in Israel's war in Gaza. Still, Romman persevered with her speech, telling Democracy Now about her family's painful history of displacement from Palestine and adding on an invigorating note: “In this pain, I’ve also witnessed something profound: a beautiful, multifaith, multiracial and multigenerational coalition rising from despair within our Democratic Party.”.
