Khanna has retained consultants who are veterans of New Hampshire\u2019s primary and Nevada\u2019s. He paid one Iowa firm as well, before the Democratic National Committee made plans to revoke the state\u2019s first-in-the-nation status. He\u2019s also begun to more forcefully draw contrasts with potential political rivals, chief among them transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Those close to Khanna say he\u2019s keeping his options open ahead of a potential presidential run in 2028 or beyond. But others in his orbit are talking about an even more compressed timeline: running in 2024 if President Joe Biden decided not to.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he would be a great United States senator,\u201d said Mark Longabaugh, a Democratic strategist whose firm did media consulting for Khanna last year. \u201cBut I also think, should Biden decide not to run, I think he\u2019s a very plausible candidate for president of the United States. So I think that those decisions are yet to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n Khanna, for his part, denied in an interview that he would go for the White House should Biden ultimately forgo a reelection bid, saying \u201cI\u2019ll rule that out definitively.\u201d He has also\u00a0said he would support Biden<\/u><\/a>\u00a0if he were to run. More immediately, he has begun talking openly about a possible run for the Senate as his next step, as other California Democrats\u00a0formally<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0informally<\/u><\/a>\u00a0announce their own bids.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of Bernie [Sanders] supporters and progressives who have reached out to me to encourage me to look at the race and what I\u2019ve told them is I will do so over the next few months,\u201d Khanna told POLITICO of a Senate bid.<\/p>\n But despite his protestations otherwise, some consultants whose firms have worked with the congressman in early primary states say they have a different impression about the extent of his political ambitions.<\/p>\n \u201cI would just have to assume that while Ro has been incredibly interested in the great state of Iowa for a number of reasons, that perhaps it had to do with laying the groundwork for any potential future national bids,\u201d said Stacey Walker, the former Iowa campaign co-chair for Sanders and founder of the Iowa-based firm Sage Strategies, which Khanna paid $8,000 last year. \u201cIf President Biden didn\u2019t seek reelection, his name would have to be on the list of top contenders. That\u2019s Stacey Walker speaking.<\/p>\n Just before and during the 2022 campaign cycle, Khanna showered money far afield from his district in Silicon Valley \u2014 and even his would-be Senate territory. He paid $22,000 last year to Sanders\u2019 former New Hampshire state director, Shannon Jackson; $25,000 to the Sanders-founded progressive group Our Revolution for digital advertising; and $8,000 each to political firms in Nevada and Iowa. Walker said the payment to the Iowa firm was for help setting up meetings with labor leaders in the state.<\/p>\n Jackson, who is close to Sanders, said he has been working with Khanna to help him build relationships with Sanders activists nationally as well as in states such as New Hampshire. He said Khanna \u201cis not running in 2024,\u201d but \u201c[f]arther down the line, I believe he is one of the progressives who can build on Bernie\u2019s work in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Khanna, meanwhile, said his payments to the Nevada firm were related to \u201cbuilding support in the Latino community around the country around a new economic patriotism, particularly focused on the Southwest.\u201d<\/p>\n POLITICO has\u00a0previously reported<\/u><\/a>\u00a0on Khanna making preparations for a future presidential run. The congressman has said his semi-regular travels to key presidential states help him commandeer a media spotlight on the issues he wants to discuss. But his moves evince the national ambitions of a politician who finds himself at a political crossroads. And what stands out now is that those with ties to him are openly floating the congressman as a potential contender if Biden doesn\u2019t run even as other Democrats with higher ambitions have fallen in line following the midterm elections.<\/p>\n Khanna is seen as one of the leaders of his party\u2019s progressive wing \u2014 a relative newcomer on the scene who has broad appeal and formidable skills. At 46, he is comfortable in liberal circles, Silicon Valley boardrooms and even Fox News, where he is ensconced as a regular. He has traveled the country campaigning in blue and\u00a0red states<\/u><\/a>\u00a0alike on \u201ceconomic patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n