Potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates like former Vice President Kamala Harris, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are hitting the campaign trail in the final stretch of the 2026 midterm elections.
Harris, who is seen as an early frontrunner in polling, campaigned in Mississippi this week and has planned stops in New Hampshire over the weekend. Ocasio-Cortez attended an event in Maine on Thursday, is in Bakersfield, California, on Friday, and will attend an early-voting rally in North Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, while Buttigieg campaigns in Georgia.
The campaign appearances come as Democrats hope to retake control of the House of Representatives and Senate in this year’s elections, as President Donald Trump’s declining approval rating fuels their optimism about a “blue wave” election. Democrats hope appearances by prominent national figures could build enthusiasm among their base, a critical goal in the midterms, when candidates are turning to efforts to motivate voters to head to the polls.
But these campaign stops also give potential presidential candidates an opportunity to connect with primary voters ahead of the 2028 Democratic presidential primary and elevate their message and policies. Presidential hopefuls may also be working to build relationships with allies who could deliver important endorsements in the election.
...
Although the first votes will not be cast for more than a year, potential candidates could begin announcing their campaigns soon after the midterms are over, and talk of the presidential primary has already begun.
Where Are Potential 2028 Democratic Candidates Campaigning?
Candidates are campaigning in several states with competitive races like Michigan and Georgia, but have also notably spent significant time in early voting states like South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire. Here is a look at where potential candidates are spending their time ahead of the midterms.
Some candidates who have been floated as potential candidates, like Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, are up for reelection this year and have spent more time in their own states, rather than campaigning for other Democrats.
Grant Davis Reeher, professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek that the hope at this “late stage” is “not to persuade voters but to energize those already inclined to support a candidate and drive them to actually turnout.”
“Each is trying to benefit off the other, and potential presidential candidates get the extra benefit of generating goodwill with the other candidate by helping them out,” he said. “That can assist them during the primary season. For the candidate being helped by the presidential hopeful, it can draw more attention to them, and help energize voters to actually turnout.”
Newsweek reached out to Harris, Ocasio-Cortez, Newsom, Buttigieg, Kelly and Beshear for comment via email.
Kamala Harris
Harris has been making campaign stops in places like Mississippi, Nevada and Michigan. She is set to appear in Manchester and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, over the weekend, and is also set to appear in Wisconsin with Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley on Monday, October 26.
“Mississippi matters,” Harris said during the rally in Columbus, Mississippi, with Senate candidate Scott Colom. “We’ve got work to do. We’ve got 12 days to make history.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Ocasio-Cortez has spent her time rallying with progressive candidates in key contests like Troy Jackson in Maine’s Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Senate race, Angie Nixon in Florida’s Senate race and Randy Villegas in California’s 22nd District.
She has also campaigned with some of her colleagues, such as Representative Emilia Sykes in Ohio, and is set to campaign with Representative Steven Horsford in Nevada this weekend.
She has also spent time in Western and Upstate New York. Some Democrats have also speculated that she could run for Senate in New York, rather than run for president, in 2028.
Gavin Newsom
Newsom has traveled to swing states like New Hampshire and North Carolina, but has also toured the South, visiting states like Alabama and South Carolina.
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg, the former Transportation Secretary during the Biden administration, has spent significant time on the campaign trail. This weekend, he is spending time in Atlanta, Georgia, to support Senator Jon Ossoff’s reelection. He wrote in a post to X on Friday, “It's time to get out the vote, Georgia! I hope you'll join Senator Jon Ossoff and me in Atlanta tomorrow afternoon. Together, we can get out the vote for Democrats up and down the ballot in the Peach State.”
He has also spent time in New Hampshire and Michigan, where he campaigned with congressional candidate Sean McCann in Kalamazoo.
Mark Kelly
Senator Kelly of Arizona has been to numerous states including Georgia, Michigan and South Carolina. Most recently, he and other potential candidates appeared at IndyFest in Las Vegas this week, where he said he has not made a decision about whether he will run, reported The Nevada Independent.
Andy Beshear
Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, was also in attendance at IndyFest and said he did not have an “announcement today” about whether he will join the presidential race, according to The Nevada Independent.
He will be spending the next few weeks campaigning in several states including Nevada, New Mexico, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma, according to a press release from the Democratic Governors Association. More details on those visits remained unclear.
Where Is Donald Trump Campaigning?
Democrats aren’t the only ones busy campaigning in the final stretch of the midterms.
Trump has held numerous rallies in recent weeks. He rallied in Iowa on Thursday to support Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn, who are both facing competitive races despite the conservative lean of the state. On Friday, he held a rally in Fort Myers, Florida.
He is also rallying in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday and Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday. Next week, he is set to campaign in Corinth, Mississippi, Lubbock and Corpus Christi, Texas, and Chillicothe, Ohio.
Democrats’ Chances of Taking House, Senate in Midterms
Both the House and Senate are seen as competitive ahead of the midterms.
On Friday, the Cook Political Report shifted 19 House races toward Democrats. It now gives Democrats an edge in 220 races and Republicans an advantage in 198 races. Seventeen others are toss-ups.
Recent polling has given Democrats an advantage on the generic ballot. These polls can signal the mood of the electorate, but are not always entirely accurate and have overestimated Democrats in some recent cycles.
The latest polling data from The New York Times and Siena University, conducted among 3,494 likely voters from October 12 to 19, showed Democrats up 11 points, 52 percent to 41 percent. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
Democrats also led by 11 points among 1,179 “strict” likely voters in the latest poll from YouGov, which surveyed 1,501 registered voters from October 19 to 20.
The latest data from Echelon Insights gave Democrats a more modest 5-point lead, 50 percent to 45 percent. It surveyed 1,010 likely voters from October 15 to 19, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
The Senate is seen as a tougher lift for Democrats. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority.
If Democrats hold onto every seat they currently hold, including seats in Trump-won Georgia and Michigan, they must flip four seats to win it, as Vice President JD Vance would serve as the tiebreaker in a split chamber.
They view GOP-held seats in Maine, which backed Harris by 7 points in 2024, and North Carolina, which Trump carried by 3 points, as top targets. But no other Republican-held seats are up for grabs in states he won by single digits or outright lost in 2024, meaning Democrats have to turn to more conservative turf to win a majority.
Polling suggests several double-digit Trump states are going to be competitive. On Friday, RealClearPolitics’ polling average showed Democrats up 1.2 points in Alaska, 3.1 points in Ohio and 1.8 points in Texas. Republicans were up 0.6 points in Iowa and 0.3 points in Kansas. Those races are all considered to be toss-ups by the Cook Political Report.
Prediction markets also favor Democrats for both chambers.
On Friday, Kalshi gave Democrats a 91.4 percent chance of winning the House and a 67 percent chance in the Senate. Polymarket had Democrats’ chances of a House majority at 92 percent and gave them a 68 percent chance of winning the Senate.
Prediction markets allow traders to buy and sell contracts tied to political outcomes and current events, aggregating real‑money wagers into probability estimates.
Prices fluctuate as traders react to polling, fundraising, candidate developments and broader political trends. They measure trader sentiment at a given moment but do not always predict the future accurately.
Democrats’ 2028 Primary Chances
As of Friday, Kalshi gave Ossoff, who has downplayed presidential speculation by saying he is not interested in running, the best chance of winning the presidential nomination at 15 percent, followed by Newsom and Ocasio-Cortez at 13 percent.
Harris followed at 7.3 percent, while Buttigieg had a 4.7 percent chance of winning the nomination. Shapiro’s chances stood at 4.5 percent, followed by Beshear at 4.2 percent and Kelly at 3.5 percent. No other candidate had more than a 3 percent chance of winning the nomination.
What Have Potential 2028 Candidates Said About Running?
Newsom has said he would not run if Harris runs, telling CNN in September, “I wouldn’t run if she ran.”
Harris has declined to rule out a potential run.
“I might. I am thinking about it,” she told the Reverend Al Sharpton in April after he asked during the National Action Network’s annual convention if she planned to run for president in 2028. Harris noted that she “served for four years being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States.”
“I spent countless hours in my West Wing office footsteps away from the Oval Office," she said. "I spent countless hours in the Oval Office and the Situation Room. I know what the job is, and I know what it requires.”
Ocasio-Cortez addressed presidential speculation in May in a conversation with David Axelrod, a former adviser to former President Barack Obama.
"My ambition is to change this country,” she said. “Presidents come and go. Senate, House seats, elected officials come and go. But single-payer healthcare is forever. A living wage is forever, workers' rights are forever, women's rights, all of that, and so anyways...to a finer point to your question is that when you aren't attached, when you haven't been like fantasizing about being this or that since the time you were 7 years old, it is tremendously liberating."
Ossoff has said he does not plan to run.
“I have zero interest in running for president in 2028, and frankly zero interest in the 2028 fantasy football right now,” he said on MS Now.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Gray R. Thomas