“Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is exploring a bid for governor of New York,” NBC News reports.

“Stefanik has $10 million cash on hand across her various political entities and has outrun Trump in her upstate New York district.”

“That’s the way politics works.”

— Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), quoted by Florida Politics, on his frayed relationship with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after Donalds won the endorsement of President Trump for Florida governor.

“Political influencers in California are greeting Kamala Harris’ potential bid for governor with a shrug, while registered voters in the state react more passionately — in good and bad ways — to her possible candidacy,” according to a new Politico/UC Berkeley’s Citrin Center poll.

Washington Post: “As he makes stops in red House districts in Utah, Idaho, Montana and several of the most competitive California districts over the next few days, Sanders will be meeting with potential candidates who share his vision and ideology — both independents and Democrats — as they weigh runs for office up and down the ballot in 2026. Sanders’s latest organizing effort is still taking shape, building off the energy that the independent Vermont senator has generated in rallies since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.”

“But at a moment when the Democratic Party is still trying to chart a clear direction after its 2024 losses, some moderate and establishment Democrats are watching Sanders warily. Many are trying to determine whether he will limit his recruiting efforts to safe red or blue districts and local offices — or whether he could build a machine backing independent candidates in more competitive districts, potentially setting up a collision course with the Democratic Party establishment.”

New York Times: “Friends, former aides and advisers say Ms. Harris still thinks she would have beaten Mr. Trump if she’d had more than 107 days to campaign — the implication being that former President Joe Biden should have quit the race earlier.”

“Yet some of her closest allies say she is leaning against another White House run in 2028 and, instead, toward a campaign for governor of California in 2026. Her political choice is binary, she has told people: She can run for governor or president, but not both.”

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) is “weeks away” from deciding whether to jump into the U.S. Senate race, and she’s planning a town hall tour of Republican districts in the meantime to highlight how Republicans are hiding from voters, Punchbowl News reports.

Said Craig: “I work with Brad Finstad, Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach and Pete Stauber when I can on specific policy issues that are right for Minnesota, but it’s chicken shit not to show up and do a town hall to your constituents.”

Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI) has ruled out a run for U.S. Senate and will instead run for reelection to the House in her mid-Michigan district, the Detroit News reports.

CNN: Democrats lose another top contender for US Senate seat in Michigan after Whitmer and Buttigieg bow out.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) is running for governor of Colorado next year, NBC News reports.

“Bennet is expected to announce his campaign as soon as Friday and will look to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in a state that has trended towards his party in recent years. And he is the latest Senate Democrat looking to leave Washington, after three retirement announcements in recent weeks.”