“California Gov. Gavin Newsom will unveil a budget plan on Wednesday that would cut health care benefits for undocumented immigrants,” NBC News reports.
“The proposed plan, which Newsom’s office said would help to balance the state’s budget, would be a stark reversal of the Democratic governor’s promises of universal health care for all, including ‘all low-income adults’ regardless of their immigration status.”
Pete Buttigieg said President Joe Biden’s decision to seek a second term “maybe” hurt Democrats and that “with the benefit of hindsight, I think most people would agree that that’s the case,” the Washington Post reports.
But Biden’s former transportation secretary also tried to turn the page Tuesday night, saying his party is “not in a position to wallow in hindsight” and using a packed town hall in Iowa to warn against counting on backlash to President Trump in future elections.
“Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is heading to Iowa Tuesday, fueling speculation that he is mounting a bid for the White House in 2028,” ABC News reports.
Nate Silver: “Democrats clearly do have a pathway to a Senate majority in 2028. Republicans currently control 53 Senate seats, and Democrats 47. Between 2026 and 2028, there are three contests in highly competitive 2024 states — one each in North Carolina in 2026 and 2028, and then one in Wisconsin in 2028. Plus, there’s a fourth race in Maine next year, where Susan Collins is running for re-election in a state that hasn’t voted Republican for president since 1988.”
“Obviously, none of this is easy for Democrats — Collins, in particular, survived in 2020 even as Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden. But if Democrats were to win three of the four races plus the presidency, they’d probably have a trifecta in 2028.”
Wall Street Journal: “Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t made a decision on her future but isn’t ruling anything out, including primarying the Senate minority leader or even a presidential bid.”
“After bruising losses in November, Democrats have struggled to consolidate around a strategy to take on President Trump, even as voters across the ideological spectrum beg them to do more. Ocasio-Cortez has emerged as one of the party’s leading voices. But some Democrats worry she will turn off the centrist voters they need to win competitive races.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said Democrats are eying the “safest white boy” ahead of the 2028 election, The Wrap reports.
Said Crockett: “It is, it is this fear that the people within the party, within the primary system, will have about voting for a woman because every time we voted for a woman, we’ve lost.”
She added: “So far. And I think that that’s a natural fear because we just want to win. So there’s a lot of people that are like, you know what? Like, let’s go find the safest white boy we can find. I mean, I’m just saying.”
Vice President J.D. Vance downplayed the notion of a rivalry between himself and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a potential 2028 competitor, USA Today reports.
Said Vance: “Not all. Marco’s probably my best friend in the administration. We hang out and talk all the time. He’s doing a really good job.”
“President Donald Trump gave JD Vance and Marco Rubio huge portfolios and has openly named both as his potential successors — putting two unlikely friends on a collision course for the GOP nomination in 2028,” Semafor reports.
“Vance and Rubio aren’t exactly rivals; in fact, White House officials and people close to the vice president note he’s developed a close relationship with the secretary of state during their time together in the Senate and now in the Trump administration. Intentionally or not, though, the president is stoking future competition between the duo, and those around him are taking notice.”
“Andy Beshear isn’t just saying he ‘would consider’ running for president. He’s actively laying the tracks for a potential 2028 campaign,” Politico reports.
“He’s meeting privately with donors, recording a podcast and regularly popping up at national events. A former Kamala Harris communications staffer is consulting for him, and he’s speaking at the Future Forward donor summit this weekend in California.“
“The selling point for Beshear, the popular, two-term governor of Kentucky, is his proven ability to win in Trump country while still running as an unapologetic Democrat. But he’s also done that by flying under the national radar, leaving him in a relative obscurity that he must now overcome.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told the HuffPost that resisting President Trump is “not good enough.”
Said Sanders: “The American people, I think, not only want resistance to Trump, but I think they want what the Democratic Party in the last many years has not given them, and that is an agenda that speaks to the needs of the working class, because it’s not good enough.”
He added: “Oh, well, you know, Trump is a terrible guy. Fine. You know, the majority of American people understand that. What’s your alternative?”
“Maryland Gov. Wes Moore appears to be everywhere at the moment — popping up on ‘The View,’ delivering a commencement address at a historically Black university in battleground Pennsylvania and, later this month, delivering an address to South Carolina Democrats, who could be pivotal in determining the Democratic Party’s nominee in 2028,” CNN reports.
“The rising star is part of a chorus of Democratic leaders putting forward a vision for how the party should take on Donald Trump as the president plows ahead with his second-term agenda.”
“I’m not prepared. I’m not qualified. I have no political history whatsoever. I’ve never been interested in politics a day in my life. I look at our politics. How worse can it get?”
— ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, when asked by CNN if he’s prepared to be president.
“President Trump, who has repeatedly teased the prospect of trying to serve an unconstitutional third term in office, went further than he had previously gone in saying that he did not intend to do that, despite the fact that the Trump Organization’s online store is selling Trump 2028 hats,” the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “There are many people selling the 2028 hat, but this is not something I’m looking to do. I’m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward.”
“Then he mentioned two Republicans who might fit the bill as his successor: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) told WDRB that he may consider a run for president in 2028.
Said Beshear: “If you’d asked me a couple years ago if this is something I’d consider, I probably wouldn’t have. But I don’t want to leave a broken country to my kids. So if I’m somebody who can bring this nation together, hopefully find some common ground, it’s something I would consider.”
“Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is set to travel to the early primary state of South Carolina at the end of this month to headline the state party’s influential Blue Palmetto Dinner,” Politico reports.
“He’s delivering a commencement speech at the historically black Lincoln University on Sunday in Pennsylvania, a key swing state. And he’s going on national shows like ‘The View’ to bolster his profile as he heads into a reelection bid next year.”
“Still, in an interview, Moore insisted he isn’t running for president in 2028.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a new interview declined to rule out running for president in 2028, The Hill reports.
“Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who passed on a run for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan — guided by what people close to him confirmed was interest in a possible second presidential bid — will be in Iowa on May 13,” CNN reports.
“He’ll headline a town hall with the group VoteVets Action Fund that will be his first public in-person event since finishing his Cabinet job with the Biden administration in January.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), a rising star within the Democratic Party who’s been floated as a 2028 contender, surprised many Thursday when he said he will not run for president in the next cycle, The Hill reports.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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