One yr out from the 2026 midterms, main Democratic Get together names have been taking the present on the highway, saying that they’re serving to the occasion lay the groundwork to battle for the U.S. Home.
Additionally they could be getting ready to run for president.
ABC Information has tracked at the very least 24 visits by Democratic presidential hopefuls to the marketing campaign path in the important thing 2025 elections that Democrats swept — New Jersey and Virginia’s gubernatorial races, New York Metropolis’s mayoral election, and California’s redistricting poll proposition election.
Individually, ABC Information has tracked at the very least 43 visits or deliberate visits up to now in 2025 and 2026 by Democratic presidential hopefuls to key early or battleground presidential election states. A few of these states are additionally anticipated to be key Home battlegrounds in 2026.
2028 Presidential Hopeful Visits to Battleground, Early States, All through 2025 and Early 2026
U.S. Congress, KY, CA, IL, MA Places of work of the Gov., Lawrence Jackson, WhiteHouse.gov, U.S. DoT, Embassy, Workplace of Gov. Tim Walz, Michigan.gov
The early and battleground state rely excludes if the state is their residence state and doesn’t rely a number of visits by the identical candidate.
“Anyone who’s trying on the 2028 cycle is beginning to head out on the highway … Placing an emphasis on states that would decide management of the Home is your finest wager, and possibly needs to be your solely focus between now and the midterms,” Sawyer Hackett, a veteran Democratic strategist who labored on presidential campaigns for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Julian Castro, advised ABC Information.
4-way cut up Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, California Rep. Ro Khanna
WhiteHousegov Lawrence Jackson; United States Congress; Mario Tama / Employees / Getty Pictures
2025 election states: New Jersey, Virginia, California, New York Metropolis
In New Jersey, Democratic candidate and U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill obtained assist on the path from a crowd of presidential hopefuls, together with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, California Rep. Ro Khanna, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
And in Virginia, Democratic candidate and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger had the assist of Beshear, Buttigieg, Emanuel, Gallego, Kelly, Khanna, Moore, Shapiro, and Whitmer.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Klobuchar individually stumped for “Proposition 50” in California, whereas Khanna and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stumped for Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in New York Metropolis.
Key early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina
A number of the presidential hopefuls have flocked to states with early nominating contests. The Democratic Get together is at the moment reevaluating its calendar for when these early contests will happen, however Hackett stated Democrats hoping to run are nonetheless protecting their bases.
Iowa, which normally boasts first-in-the-nation caucuses, will host a intently watched Senate race subsequent yr. The state additionally has some aggressive Home seats.
Iowa hosted former Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in March and Buttigieg for a city corridor in Could, whereas Gallego visited in August and Emanuel got here by in September. Kelly is ready to go to in November, whereas Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen spoke to Iowa Democrats in September.
Pete Buttigieg speaks at a city corridor hosted by VoteVets on the Veteran’s Memorial Constructing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Could 13, 2025.
KC McGinnis/For The Washington Submit by way of Getty Pictures
New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first presidential primaries and can maintain a contested U.S. Senate race in 2026 for the seat being vacated by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, has hosted a number of lawmakers. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear visited earlier this month; Gallego and Khanna stopped by in August; Klobuchar was there in July and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker will go to in November.
When Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker visited in April, he painted a dire image for his occasion.
“Fellow Democrats, for a lot too lengthy, we have been responsible of listening to a bunch of do-nothing political varieties who would let you know that America’s home just isn’t on hearth, even because the flames had been licking their faces,” Pritzker stated.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker arrives for a information convention, Oct. 6, 2025, in Chicago.
Scott Olson/Getty Pictures
South Carolina, in the meantime, additionally has an early presidential major. This yr, it noticed visits from Beshear, Khanna and Newsom in July — who advised rural residents “what we’re experiencing is America in reverse.”
Kelly visited in September, whereas Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Walz visited in late May for South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn’s “Fish Fry” occasion, which has typically been fertile waters for would-be Pennsylvania Avenue hopefuls.
Each Walz and Moore have advised ABC Information beforehand they don’t seem to be “operating” for president or haven’t any plans to run.
Battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
A number of 2028 presidential hopefuls have additionally made their method across the seven battleground states, which have been thought of winnable by both occasion and have an outsized affect on the place campaigns place their assets.
Just a few potential candidates have or plan to pay visits to Arizona, together with Ocasio-Cortez, who visited in March as a part of the Preventing Oligarchy tour run by impartial Sen. Bernie Sanders. Whitmer visited in March, whereas Booker visited in April and Buttigieg visited in October. Harris, who just lately stated she’ll “probably” run for president once more, will probably be talking there in April 2026.
Arizona has two congressional seats at the moment held by Republicans seen as aggressive, according to the Cook Political Report.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez speaks throughout a rally, March 21, 2025, at Civic Middle Park in Denver.
Chet Unusual/Getty Pictures
Georgia is commonly the positioning of each a detailed presidential race and important down-ballot races. Khanna visited in August, whereas Harris made a stop there on her e book tour in October.
Additional north, Moore and Khanna have paid visits this yr to the battleground state of Michigan, the place each President Donald Trump and Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin received in 2024.
Wisconsin, which had the closest margin between Trump and Harris in 2024 of the battleground states, noticed visits from Klobuchar in March, Khanna in Could, Walz in March and September and Whitmer in October.
Nevada, which additionally typically figures early within the presidential major calendar, noticed visits this yr from Ocasio-Cortez in March, Pritzker and Khanna in August, and Gallego and Kelly in September.
North Carolina noticed visits from Pritzker in July and Buttigieg in September. Harris visited for her e book tour there in October, whereas fellow Californian Khanna will drop by in November.
Rep. Ro Khanna is seen within the Capitol on the seventh day of the federal government shutdown, Oct. 7, 2025.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name by way of Getty Pictures
Pennsylvania can be a key battleground state. Moore delivered a graduation handle at Lincoln College in Gettysburg in Could, the identical month Gallego and Khanna paid their very own visits. Notably, two Republicans in Pennsylvania, Reps. Scott Perry and Ryan Mackenzie, expect to face fierce fights to carry onto their seats.
Khanna just lately stated the occasion’s focus is to win again management of the Home, which has a Republican majority.
“We have now already quite a few nice candidates for 2028 that’ll emerge, however proper now the main target must be to take again the Home by way of political precedence,” Khanna told public media organization WHYY.
