“I’ve never lost an election when my name is on the ballot. And I’ve never lost an election when I worked for either President Clinton, President Obama or helped make Nancy Pelosi Speaker. I don’t lose.”

— Rahm Emanuel, quoted by the Financial Times, on speculation he might run for president in 2028.

“Vice President Vance’s call for fellow Republicans to ‘stop whining’ about Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial attack ad in Ohio’s race for governor showed a key part of his political mindset ahead of his expected run for president in 2028: Never back down,” Axios reports.

“Channeling President Trump, Vance has shown contempt for what he sees as the old-guard GOP’s reflex to cave under pressure from Democrats and the media.”

”He thinks too many Republicans sacrifice allies to make controversies go away, and that giving critics a political scalp only encourages them to demand another.”

“JD Vance may be an early Republican frontrunner to succeed Donald Trump in 2028, but the president has made it clear he isn’t ready to hand over the keys,” Bloomberg reports.

“With Vance standing behind him in the Oval Office yesterday, Trump declined to endorse his vice president for the next presidential election, calling him a ‘very talented person’ but insisting it was too early to make a decision.”

Said Trump: “We have to get through the midterms. We’ll see how it goes.”

Mediaite: Trump ties JD Vance to him: “We disagree on almost nothing.”

“JB Pritzker is pouring tens of millions of dollars of his own money into boosting Black and Hispanic candidates this cycle. That could help him win over critical voters in 2028,” Politico reports.

“The billionaire Illinois governor — who’s also considered a potential presidential contender — is investing at least $38 million in battleground races.”

Vice President JD Vance was interviewed by Mark Halperin, who asked if Vance would get Donald Trump’s endorsement if he ran for president in 2028:

VANCE: I’ll tell you Mark that I’m focused on the midterm elections and I want to get as many good Republicans elected in early November as possible. Look, I really have not made up my mind about what to do in 2028, I really haven’t focused on it… Look, I think if I run, the president will endorse me.

HALPERIN: Right away? Right at the beginning? In other words, the day you announce. He’d endorse you, right?

VANCE: I don’t know, man, I haven’t talked to him about it.

HALPERIN: It would be kind of weird though if you said, “Mr. President, I’m going to run,” and he said, “Let me think about it.”

VANCE: No, it wouldn’t be weird. I think I’d get his endorsement, but I also think there’s something to be said for people actually running their own race. And because the president’s endorsement is so dispositive, you could absolutely see a scenario where the president says, “You know what, we need to let this race play out and not preemptively prejudge the results.”

“Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) will be in Los Angeles on Monday for a fundraising swing, expected to be his final one through a prime Democratic donor base with the midterms approaching,” Deadline reports.

“Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is in open war with prominent Latino lawmakers, and his potential 2028 rivals for president are taking advantage,” Axios reports.

“Beshear, as head of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), has resisted pressure from Latino leaders to invest heavily in Gina Hinojosa’s campaign for Texas governor, opting to focus on races in other states.”

“In response, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore have given money to Hinojosa’s bid to unseat Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) — and earned praise from Latino lawmakers.”

“The back-and-forth amounts to one of the first fights of the 2028 Democratic primary, against the backdrop of the party’s desperation to reverse the GOP’s recent gains among Latino voters.”

“For the next two weeks, Vice President JD Vance’s job is to save Congress for Republicans,” CNN reports.

“But then he’ll turn to another political project — himself.”

“Vance’s 2026 closing arguments on the Iran war, high energy prices and immigration are becoming an early test of whether and how, as a 2028 presidential contender, he might handle the tumultuous legacy of his boss, President Donald Trump.”

“It’s not an easy task.”

“In the final stage of this year’s midterms, prospective presidential candidates are parachuting into battleground states to rally support for candidates on the ballot this fall, road-test their stump speeches, and introduce themselves to voters and activists,” the New York Times reports.

“The Democratic schedule is especially packed in New Hampshire, an early presidential nominating state where there is a competitive Senate race. While New Hampshire has lost its long vaunted first-in-the-nation Democratic primary status to South Carolina, it will go third in 2028.”

“Vice President JD Vance revealed ‘there’s a chance’ he won’t run for president in 2028 — and second lady Usha and the couple’s four young kids could help make the decision for him,” the New York Post reports.

Said Vance: “Of course there’s a chance. We’ve got four little kids, my wife has never loved politics. She loves public service.”

Sarah Longwell: “Georgia has had close elections in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024—but right now Sen. Jon Ossoff’s lead is pushing into the double digits. Why?”

“One reason is that Ossoff completely eviscerated his opponent, Rep. Mike Collins, in a couple of recent debates for voting to direct money to data-center developers and for hiring ‘half the Third Reich’ to staff his congressional office. In a particularly arresting image, Ossoff said that Collins would be grabbing a billy club if John Lewis were marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge today. He did all of this with the cadence of Atticus Finch, but didn’t spend so much time in the muck that he failed to speak with soaring, Obama-esque rhetoric about the promise of America.”

“It was a performance bound to set off a lot of speculation about a presidential run—which Ossoff promised not to make. In short, Ossoff is doing exactly what I’ve been begging Democrats to do.”

“As he weighs a presidential campaign, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) is putting the finishing touches on one of the potential 2028 field’s best midterm scorecards: Kelly has backed 74 candidates and campaigned in 16 states, all while laying down $14.1 million for Democrats this cycle,” Politico reports.

“Now, his midterm mission will take him to stops across five states, including the early Democratic nominating states Nevada, New Mexico and New Hampshire. He’ll also hit Maine, where he’ll stump for Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson, and his home state, where tomorrow he’ll stump alongside 18 endorsed state legislative candidates.”

“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) is launching a new political action committee, raising speculation that the governor may run for president in 2028,” NewsNation reports.

“As potential 2028 presidential candidates crisscross the country to campaign in the midterms, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is wielding an advantage that none of the others can match: his massive personal wealth,” CNN reports.

“The billionaire has funneled nearly $40 million to Democratic candidates and groups in the midterms, donating to everything from the party’s biggest super PACs to state legislative campaigns. And in the closing weeks of the election, he’s funding a $20 million effort to help Democrats push deeper into red territory in their bid to capture the House majority, a particularly ambitious play.”

“The midterm races are kicking into their highest gear — and so are the politicians who want to run for president in 2028,” the Washington Post reports.

”An array of potential Democratic and Republican presidential contenders are hitting the campaign trail in the final weeks before Election Day to stump for their parties’ House, Senate and governor nominees.”