Normally, I try to lead this little vanity blog with some clever thinkpiece on key trends in Democratland that I’ve wordsmithed and joke-ified until it successfully obscures my intellectual inadequacy. (I hope it’s been working!)
But since yesterday marked the first quarterly FEC deadline of 2026, naturally, I spent most of the last 24 hours combing through the newly filed reports so I could provide the true sickos with rapid, in-depth analysis of the 2028ers’ Q1 activities. So the mediocre jokes and lukewarm takes will have to wait until next week. (Or just tune in to me and Rob’s new politics show this afternoon, which promises to be unhinged.)
Anywho, here is a hot-off-the-presses look at the prospective field’s financials after Q1, followed by a bunch of newsy tidbits that aides to these not-yet-candidates will be supremely annoyed by. But hey, it’s in the public record, what do you want from me!?
All of this is also updated in my Big, Beautiful 2028 Tracker – it has several tabs, including travel, fundraising, and polling/prediction markets trackers, which is a thing I’ve learned most people did not realize.
FEC Roundup: Newsy Tidbits + Takeaways
That ‘Seditious Six’ Fix. MARK KELLY raised another $13M – his $22.3M on hand now tops all likely 2028 Ds – and he continues to spread the wealth via his PAC... Notable Q1 beneficiaries included map-stretching Senate hopefuls James Talarico (TX), Mary Peltola (AK), Alex Vindman (FL), Scott Colom (MS), Annie Andrews (SC), & maybe Sharice Davids (KS filing deadline isn’t til June!). He also sent $115k to the DSCC + $5k to state parties in NH, GA, NC, OH, MN & IL.
Fellow ‘Seditious Six’er ELISSA SLOTKIN raised $2M after not hitting $750k in any quarter last year. She also brought back 2024 deputy campaign manager Emma Grundhauser and finance director Ariella Sternfeld.
Yes We Khanna. RO KHANNA added former Bernie Sanders NH state director Shannon Jackson to the payroll as an advisor. His consultants include Bernie’s 2020 NV state director Sarah Michelson, SC-based strategist Aaron Greene, and an LLC associated with Clark County Commissioner & former NV Dem Chair, William McCurdy II.
KHANNA also made donations to Make the Road Nevada & the UNLV Foundation, and transferred a combined $30k to the NH Dem Party & NH Senate Dem Caucus. He has been building serious inroads in these early states since well before the 2024 election and stockpiling cash, now boasting over $16M in his war chest.
Booksmaxxing. GAVIN NEWSOM’s PAC spent $1.5 million on bulk purchases of his memoir, which were sent to grassroots donors through a promotion to contribute any amount in exchange for the book. Before anyone freaks out, I’ve confirmed that this did not count toward his chart-topping book sale numbers, nor did he make commission.
AOCing Green. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ raised another $4M in Q1, and per her campaign manager, the average donation was just $16. She’s now raised ~$28M this cycle – $10M more than Speaker Johnson, and more-than-double the total of any other House member.
Pete’s Receipts. This was technically filed in March, but PETE BUTTIGIEG’s Win The Era PAC raised over $1.2M in February as he continues to ramp up his political operation.
Quick Hits
At the conclusion of the National Action Network Convention (aka Sharpchella) last weekend, Al Sharpton offered his assessment of all 10 of the prospective 2028ers who attended. He… mostly thought they were all solid, though he was surprised that KAMALA HARRIS made clear she’s thinking seriously about running again, and by how well ANDY BESHEAR was received.
Every prospective 2028er in the Senate just voted to block the sale of 1000-pound bombs and bulldozers Israel – a lagging indicator and acknowledgment of the base’s disaffection on this issue.
Per Axios’s Holly Otterbein & Alex Thompson, ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ has privately fumed about the harsh criticism she’s gotten from a bloc of leftists who see her as more pragmatist than revolutionary. It is notable that this group seems to give Zohran Mamdani plenty of grace even as he charms Trump & moves to the center on key issues, while savaging AOC – perhaps the most powerful ally they’ve ever had in Congress – as a sellout.
A new Yale Youth Poll shows AOC maintaining her lead among voters under 35 with 32% of their support, followed by KAMALA at 20%; nobody else is in double digits.
RUBEN GALLEGO – who was close friends with Eric Swalwell and chaired his 2020 presidential campaign – held a 40-minute press gaggle to express his outrage, condemn insulations being made about his own misbehavior, and answer a torrent of pointed questions from reporters, at times fighting back tears. It’s an extremely dicey moment for Gallego, who had been rising up 2028 short lists (mine included).
WES MOORE is set to sign two major pieces of pro-consumer legislation: the Utility Relief Act – which is expected to save the average household $150 on energy bills next year – and the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act, which would make Maryland the “the first state in the nation to ban the use of surveillance data and dynamic pricing at grocery stores.”
GRETCHEN WHITMER was the latest Dem profiled in The Atlantic’s ongoing series on the 2028 contenders, with Elaine Godfrey painting the popular MI governor as overly accommodating of Trump in their respective second terms.
MOORE & WHITMER – both of whom joined Substack in the 2nd half of 2025 – had a conversation on the platform about tackling rising costs.
CORY BOOKER, the Ranking Member on the Senate’s Antitrust Subcommittee, held a hearing on the anticompetitive risks of the Paramount-Skydance merger Wednesday, and is continuing to pressure David Ellison – who was invited but could not attend – to testify before Congress.
RO KHANNA took on 20 Epstein Files critics in an episode of Jubilee’s Surrounded that has racked up 1.2M views. He also did a joint interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene, headlined an event at the National Press Club, and held a discussion with Bernie Sanders about AI & robotics.
JON OSSOFF delivered another banger speech, this time tearing into the “Mar-a-Lago Mafia” at Georgia Dems’ Carter-Lewis Dinner. There is much more to politics these days than giving big addresses to adoring crowds, but he has certainly separated himself from the pack in that department.
Maryland Sen. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN is keynoting the Cheshire County (NH) Democrats’ Spaghetti Dinner on June 14, and continues to rail against the DSCC and Chuck Schumer, which is frankly a smart fight for the de facto leader of the Senate’s aptly named Fight Club to continue picking.
To wit, in a new poll of MA Dems – which has PETE BUTTIGIEG leading the 2028 field – just 26% rate the performance of Dem leadership in the Senate & House as excellent or good, compared to 72% who rate it as fair or poor.
JOSH SHAPIRO joined the Pat McAfee Show alongside Dana White to announce that UFC will return to Philadelphia in August, earning plaudits from the chattering class for his ability to hang in apolitical spaces.
Highlights from the Big, Beautiful Tracker
CHRIS MURPHY on Raging Moderates
RO KHANNA on Jubilee’s Surrounded
RAHM EMANUEL on At Our Table with Jaime Harrison
RAPHAEL WARNOCK on Brian Tyler Cohen
By The Numbers: Updated Snapshots of the Race
