First Look: Netflix’s ‘The Politician’ sets second season primary for June

The Politician Season 2 returns to Netflix on June 19

Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner Ben Platt returns as Payton Hobart in the second season of Ryan Murphy’s first Netflix series, The Politician. Bette Midler and Judith Light, who were introduced late in the first season, are front and center for season two as high school politics have graduated to the national level.

Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) fights to unseat Dede Standish (Light) in the New York State Senate race. As a long-time incumbent and greatly admired Senate Majority Leader with no-nonsense Chief of Staff, Hadassah Gold (Midler) at her side, Dede’s re-election was supposed to be easy, but Payton – who sees this as the next step on his path to the Presidency – must decide what kind of politician he ultimately wants to be in order to succeed, even if that means exposing secrets, lies, and a throuple. Meanwhile, his mother, Georgina Hobart (Gwyneth Paltrow), makes a momentous decision that threatens to upstage him and everything he’s hoping to accomplish. But if Payton wants to rise above petty politics and succeed without compromising his character, he must find his voice and strengthen his political message to inspire and excite the voters. Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, The Politician offers a comedic and satirical glimpse into just what it takes to be a politician.

Here is your first look of images and the poster for season two of The Politician.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Heated Rivalry,’ ‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ Lead 86th Peabody Awards Winners - April 23, 2026
• 2026 Las Culturistas Culture Awards Hosted by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers to Air on Bravo and Peacock in June - April 23, 2026
• Gerran Howell on Whitaker’s Growth in Season Two of ‘The Pitt,’ Dr. Robby’s Intentions, and His Go-To Karaoke Song [VIDEO INTERVIEW] - April 21, 2026