Ambitious Democrats

 Axios - Dozens of ambitious Democrats are looking at the next presidential race and thinking: Why not me?

They're stashing millions of dollars, quietly hiring presidential-level campaign staff, fine-tuning potential stump speeches, sitting for glossy profiles, trying to grow their social media followings, and visiting Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,

The 2028 Democratic presidential primary will be the most wide-open in a generation. It could also be the longest presidential contest ever...

A dozen Democrats have already visited or have plans to visit an early primary state this year.

• The governors: Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gavin Newsom of California, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Wes Moore of Maryland, JB Pritzker of Illinois.
• The senators: Mark Kelly of Arizona, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
• Other Democrats: Rep. Ro Khanna of California, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Several other Democratic lawmakers haven't traveled to early primary states but have tried to establish national brands:

• Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Jared Polis of Colorado, Phil Murphy of New Jersey.
• Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, plus Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

🥊 Reality check: After Trump's rise in the Republican Party and voter anger, there's always the possibility of an outsider coming in and demolishing the field.

At the end of June, here's how much money each of the potential candidates in Congress had in their campaign account. Those funds can legally be transferred to a presidential campaign account.

• Booker: $19.6 million (he's also up for re-election in 2026).
• Khanna: $14.2 million.
• Murphy: $10.2 million.
• Ocasio-Cortez: $9.8 million.
• Kelly: $7.9 million.
• Warnock: $4.2 million.
• Klobuchar: $1.8 million.
• Sanders has the most money on hand — $20.1 million. But he'd be 87 by the November 2028 election, and has suggested he's not interested in another presidential run.