More than two dozen Democrats are already weighing White House bids for 2028 after the party's sweeping midterm gains, according to Jim Messina, who ran Barack Obama's 2012 re election campaign.

Messina said he has spoken to over twenty campaigns that are actively exploring a run, starting the financing process and hiring staff. He expects exploratory committees to be announced in the coming weeks, likely after Thanksgiving. He said he already knows of someone relocating to work on a governor's presidential effort.

He predicted the field will shrink once candidates face the fundraising demands of a primary calendar. In private talks he presses hopefuls on their economic vision and their plans for artificial intelligence. He also warned that Trump will still be in office during the campaign season, forcing Democrats to choose whether to answer him every day or stay on their own message.

Messina credited the midterm success to a disciplined focus on the economy and the impact of tariffs, which he said hit rural voters hard through higher fuel and living costs. That message, he argued, helped flip seats in traditionally Republican states such as Iowa, Kansas and Texas. He said Democrats for once refused to be drawn into culture fights and stuck to kitchen table concerns.

He cautioned that the result was not a broad endorsement of the party and called Trump the unlikely most valuable player of the election for Democrats. The harder task now, he said, will be holding progressive and centrist wings together in Congress while a crowded bench of governors and senators tests the waters for 2028. Names already gaining attention after strong midterm showings include Georgia senator Jon Ossoff and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, though neither has declared.