Silver sees a candidate who could bridge party factions
Speaking at Crooked Con in Washington, DC, on November 7, 2026, Silver pointed to Ossoff's electoral strength and potential appeal across the Democratic Party, 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 founded FiveThirtyEight and writes the Silver Bulletin newsletter. He correctly forecast that Democrats would regain control of the House and Senate in the midterms. At the conference, he also said a 60-seat Democratic Senate majority "would be on the table" if the party could repeat its midterm wave in 2028.
His colleagues on the Still Counting podcast offered different nomination picks during the same segment: Clare Malone chose New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while Galen Duke selected Pete Buttigieg.
Silver also suggested that Ossoff's appearance could be an advantage for the 39-year-old senator. "Is he looksmaxxing or something?" he asked.
A commanding win in Georgia
Ossoff defeated Republican challenger Mike Collins on Tuesday, taking 59% of the vote to Collins' 41%. He used his victory speech to argue that the midterms showed "the American people have rejected the failed lame duck president Donald J. Trump."
Former President Barack Obama joined Ossoff at a campaign rally in the election's final week. He said there was "only one common-sense choice in this race, and that is Jon Ossoff," and joked that the senator "looks like a Kennedy."
Before entering the Senate, Ossoff graduated from Georgetown and worked as a Capitol Hill staffer. His first Senate election victory came in 2021, making him the nation's first Jewish senator and the first Democrat elected to a full term in Georgia since 1996.
Ossoff has developed a moderate reputation while forcefully criticizing the Trump administration. This summer, he attracted broad attention when he questioned a Trump nominee about the result of the 2020 election.
Prediction markets put Ossoff ahead
Over the past two weeks, Ossoff has moved past Ocasio-Cortez and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to lead the Democratic nomination markets on both Kalshi and Polymarket.
Cleveland.com reported that, in the days following the midterms, Kalshi priced Ossoff's nomination chances at 26%, compared with 14% for Ocasio-Cortez and 13% for Newsom. They were the only Democrats with double-digit odds on that platform. Polymarket put Ossoff at 24%, with Ocasio-Cortez and Newsom each at 15%.
The market for the presidency itself is separate from the nomination contest. According to Kalshi News, Ossoff had the highest odds of becoming the 48th U.S. president as of November 7, at 21%—up 12 percentage points since Election Day. Kalshi traders put the Democratic Party's overall chance of winning the presidency in 2028 at 65%.
Other newly elected Democrats also attracted wagers, Cleveland.com reported. Texas Sen.-elect James Talarico, who flipped a Republican seat, stood at 3.5% in Kalshi's Democratic nomination market and 2% on Polymarket. Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed was at 2.7% on Kalshi.
Early favorites do not necessarily become nominees. Jeb Bush was widely considered a leading Republican contender two years before the 2016 election, but he withdrew without winning a primary.
Presidential attention, but no declared interest
Ossoff's potential has drawn notice beyond Silver's assessment. Fox News host Laura Ingraham wrote this summer, "He's their new Obama." This month, former Bill Clinton adviser Hank Sheinkopf told The Observer: "Ossoff would be a very interesting candidate."
Sheinkopf explained: "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, however, have identified Ossoff's position on Israel as a possible obstacle to winning the Democratic nomination. Ossoff calls himself "a committed supporter of the State of Israel," but has criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accused Israeli forces of breaking the law in Gaza.
The presidential speculation also featured in his Senate campaign. Collins charged that Ossoff saw the Senate as a route to the White House, telling supporters before Election Day, "All he cares about is using us as a platform." Collins had earlier described him as a "globetrotting trust fund kid." Ossoff accused Collins of having "disqualifying ties to white nationalism and neo-Nazi ideology."
For his part, Ossoff has maintained that his priority is his Senate work. "I have zero interest in running for president. I'm not running for president," he said last month.
