Forget 2026, the Race for 2028 Has Already Started

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California notched an immediate win against Republican naysayers, passing a mid-decade redistricting effort Tuesday night. He may have also banked a campaign talking point for 2028.

Newsom, who engineered the push to draw new congressional districts that could gain Democrats up to five seats in the 2026 midterms, is frequently mentioned as a potential presidential candidate. Now he’s being lauded for his political maneuvering.

“Him running, essentially, the Prop. 50 campaign gave him not just California exposure but national exposure,” said Adam Kinsey, a Democratic strategist. “In addition to all the kind of crazy, kind of fun things he does on social media, which have also been increasing his standing.”

Newsom wasn’t the only potential candidate to get involved in crucial 2025 races. Several of them had high stakes in Tuesday’s elections, and they weren’t shy about their involvement. Sens. Ruben Gallego, Mark Kelly and Amy Klobuchar; Rep. Ro Khanna; the former ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel; former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and Govs. JB Pritzker, Wes Moore, Andy Beshear and Gretchen Whitmer were all out on the road ahead of Tuesday, helping to make the case for various candidates.

Campaigning on behalf of other high-profile candidates is usually good preparation for building a national profile, Kinsey said.

“It’s a great opportunity to get out there and sell your message, sell yourself, sell your background, get people familiar with you, let people kick the tires on you — both the national media and voters and donors in important areas around the country,” Kinsey said.

So is this a sign of 2028 kicking off?

“I mean, people who want to run, they’re always thinking about it, come on,” Gallego, often discussed as a 2028 hopeful, told NOTUS. “Political people by nature are always going to be reading the tea leaves into something. My opinion is, it’s too far ahead. Democrats need to focus on winning 2026. I mean, the political environment in 2028 could be entirely different.”

In Pennsylvania, Democrats retained three state Supreme Court seats. There, Gov. Josh Shapiro appeared in an ad urging voters to retain the Democratic Supreme Court justices. He also campaigned for gubernatorial candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill in Virginia and New Jersey.

After the elections, Shapiro hit the airwaves, appearing on MSNBC, The Bulwark and a local ABC station to discuss the party’s future.

“There was a through line throughout that the candidates spoke about the issues in their communities. They had plans to lower costs, they had plans to address unique needs in that community,” Shapiro said Wednesday on the ABC affiliate. “And at the same time, voters went to the polls to say to Donald Trump, ‘We don’t like what you’re doing.’”

Some Democrats bristled at the idea that they’re looking ahead to 2028.

Sen. Chris Murphy told NOTUS on Wednesday that he’s more focused on ending the shutdown than any future campaigns at the moment.

“Last night’s results probably mean something for 2026, but what’s much more relevant is what we need right now to try to get the government reopened,” Murphy, who has sparked 2028 rumors of his own by, among other things, launching a PAC in July aimed at taking on Trump and Republicans, told NOTUS.

After Tuesday’s elections, Murphy took to the social platform X to underline how his PAC helped Democrats win in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

As potential 2028 candidates look to raise their profile, the Chicago-based consultant Tom Bowen, who worked on President Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign, said this week’s elections offer a guide for ambitious Democrats trying to take on a larger role in the party.

If he were to advise a presidential hopeful at this point, Bowen said, he’d tell them, “Make a choice about what your ‘for the good of the party’ role is going to be for the next few years.”

That can take many forms, including working on grassroots ballot campaigns or helping with House and Senate candidate recruitment or voter registration. Either way, Bowen said at this stage the best approach is picking a lane to serve Democrats in the midterms and show you can get something done.

“I think that it would just behoove people to figure out how they want to be part of the pushback and just go get it done, because now people are ready to go get an assignment,” Bowen said. “Because now people are ready to be led, because they’ve seen some successes, and they’ve seen that, you know, all hope isn’t lost.”