THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS MAY BE just ten weeks away. But the 2028 presidential primary is already being waged quietly in the background.
In conversations with advisers to potential candidates over the past few weeks, it’s become readily apparent that many have begun to think through where they’d locate their prospective presidential campaign headquarters. It’s an easy decision if you’re, say, the governor of Illinois and can base your operation out of a top-tier city like Chicago, but a tougher choice if you hail from a Pacific Time Zone state or, say, Louisville, Kentucky.¹
They also have been quietly courting campaign staffers—a seemingly mundane task but one taking on early urgency because the ability to woo top-tier operatives will be seen as an early sign of a candidate’s perceived viability.
“People are underestimating how insane the scramble for talent is going to be,” Democratic strategist Jesse Lehrich, who writes a newsletter tracking the 2028 candidates, told me. “There’s going to be thirty-plus people running, and they’re all going to need staff.”
Perhaps no potential candidate has built up as robust a campaign team as
I know: Nothing improves the reading experience quite like smacking into a paywall. But there’s a lot of cool stuff behind this one—details on specific campaigns and staffers. If you’re at all excited about 2028, you’re not going to want to miss it!


