Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is using his book tour and 2026 reelection campaign to further build out a national fundraising network that could prove quite useful in a potential 2028 run.

The governor held a fundraising event over lunch while visiting Massachusetts for his book tour last month, two people familiar with the planning for it confirmed — making it at least the third fundraiser he attended in the last year in the deep-blue state with deep-pocketed donors who have long bankrolled presidential contenders. One of the others was held at the home of Jewish philanthropist and New England Patriots president Jonathan Kraft in April, details of which have not previously been reported. Shapiro attended another on Nantucket, a summer fundraising mecca, in July, according to an attendee and invitations obtained by POLITICO.

They add to an extensive list of networking events for the possible White House aspirant who’s long been a prolific fundraiser within and beyond Pennsylvania.

He amassed $23 million in 2025 with the help of $2.5 million from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; $1 million from a Soros family PAC, $500,000 from James and Kathryn Murdoch, the left-leaning son and daughter in law of Rupert Murdoch; and over $120,000 from Kraft and his father, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. That’s helped him build a $30 million war chest to unleash this year against his likely GOP opponent, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who raised nearly $1.5 million last year and had $1 million in the bank to start 2026.

His book tour side-hustle comes as several of Shapiro’s would-be rivals for the Democratic nomination in 2028 take donor meetings across the country as they navigate their own reelection bids and start laying the groundwork for White House runs.

Shapiro routinely dismisses talk of 2028 in public, keeping a laser focus on his reelection bid and on his efforts to help Democrats down the ballot.

“No one should be looking past these midterms,” the governor recently told reporters in Washington, D.C., who were peppering him with hypotheticals.

Sources say he is just as disciplined behind closed doors: Shapiro has kept his pitch focused on his leadership in purple Pennsylvania and how Democrats should be centering pocketbook issues in the midterms, while declining to engage with questions about his future beyond 2026, according to two people who attended donor events with Shapiro last year.

“The smartest thing Shapiro and other folks on the ballot in 2026 can do right now is say ‘I’m running for reelection right now and I’m in the middle of the fight.’ [It] makes ‘26 a nice little audition for their eventual 2028 runs,” said Alex Hoffman, a Democratic strategist and donor adviser.

His out-of-state networking is already paying off. Shapiro raked in over $700,000 from prominent donors in Massachusetts alone in 2025, including $260,000 from construction magnate John Fish and $50,000 from telecommunications tycoon Robert Hale. He also hauled in cash from Hollywood bigwigs and tech titans, including $100,000 from Sony film executive Tom Rothman and $200,000 from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.

But the governor’s expansive donor pool is also drawing scrutiny. Garrity has called on Shapiro to return over $2 million his campaign has taken over the years from billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who is referenced repeatedly in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Hoffman gave $500,000 to Shapiro last year. Shapiro also received $50,000 from New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, who is also mentioned in the Epstein files, as is Robert Kraft. Both Hoffman and Tisch have issued statements distancing themselves from the late convict.

“Stacy Garrity should stop playing politics with the Epstein files. Donald Trump is mentioned in the files over 5,000 times. Is she going to ask him to rescind his endorsement?” Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said in a statement. Bonder declined comment on the governor’s fundraisers.

He'll need to keep building out that network. Shapiro has benefited from what longtime Pennsylvania Democratic strategist Neil Oxman described as “institutional donors” in the state who’ve given to successive Democratic governors. But of “the thousands of people who raise money nationally, he probably knows a fraction of them. He has some [national] recognition, but he’s not Gavin Newsom. He’s not the Clintons.”

Shapiro also won’t be able to use the gobs of money he’s raised for his state campaign account to fund a run for federal office, leaving him at an initial disadvantage against other potential 2028ers who are already squirreling away millions of dollars into federal leadership committees, super PACs and congressional campaign accounts that can be converted when the time comes.

“That’s why sometimes it’s hard to run for office when you have to run for another office,” Oxman said.

A version of this article first appeared in POLITICO Pro’s Morning Score. Want to receive the newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.

Fetterman on ICE, Israel and identifying as a Democrat | The Conversation

lead image

Rahm Emanuel is embarking on a three-day swing through the crucial swing-state of Michigan this weekend. But he’s not just dropping in to help boost down-ballot Democratic candidates — he’s also visiting some trade schools to unveil yet another policy proposal.

The moves raise the question: Is he presenting the planks of a larger platform that he can run on for president? Or is he headfaking a run to build buzz and draw interest to his ideas, redirecting the field to where he thinks the party’s intellectual center of gravity should be?

“I’m going to continue to lay out changes — reforms — that I think address the challenges Americans are facing today. And that is how to get an education that affords and ensures access to the American dream,” Emanuel said in an interview when asked about his motivations.

His latest plan is aimed at helping military service members transition back to civilian life through the skilled trades.

The proposal would give 20,000 departing service members a $10,000 tax-free sign-on bonus to enroll in a registered apprenticeship to become electricians, carpenters, plumbers and construction workers over a five-year period. The $200 million plan would be paid for by eliminating a tax “giveaway” from President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act for private colleges, Emanuel said.

“We do a signing bonus of $50,000 to go into ICE and become a lawless mob, yet we have people that have the potential to be a carpenter, electrician, a pipe fitter, an operating engineer, a laborer, and we don't do anything,” said Emanuel.

His plan is his fourth policy rollout in almost as many months, and months before the midterm election that most Democrats are focused on, as well as years ahead of what could be a crowded 2028 presidential primary. His other proposals include banning children under 16 from social media; forcing public officials to retire at 75; and boosting literacy. And he has said he is ramping up his 2026travel outside of the coasts to the middle of the country.

Emanuel’s blizzard of white papers stands in contrast to his potential 2028 foes.

Many of Emanuel’s would-be rivals are still in office and can point to concrete governing or legislating proposals. Others eyeing a run who are back in private life have sought different paths, like former Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, who has been traveling and promoting her book, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeig, who recently held a Wisconsin town hall and has been making the rounds on the podcast circuit.

But Emanuel, the former U.S. ambassador to Japan, Chicago mayor, White House chief of staff and congressman, doesn’t currently have an official day job to leverage to execute policy changes or get himself noticed. He’s instead spent more time on cable TV and podcasts while developing what amounts to an education policy vision.

“There are some people that want to emphasize the resistance to Donald Trump, and there's a lot to resist. I am about fighting for America as much as about fighting Donald Trump,” Emanuel said.

He cited several recent moments that have shaped his thinking, including a warning from Michigan-based Ford CEO Jim Farley, who has issued a warning that the U.S. faces a one-million jobs shortage of skilled workers. He also mentioned a private dinner with Dario Amodei, the CEO of the fast-growing AI startup Anthropic. “No AI can destroy these jobs,” Emanuel told POLITICO.

At one point in explaining his belief in the “power of ideas” to shape politics, Emanuel seemed to suggest the idea of running before catching himself.

“If you're going to r— think about public life," he said, redirecting his sentence midstream, “you got to answer these challenges.”

Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here's an offering of the best of this week's crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.

President Donald Trump on Thursday continued to personally attack Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt over a debacle regarding the upcoming annual governors’ weekend in Washington.

"We will soon have a Governor in Oklahoma who knows how to accurately write a Press Release to the Public, in this case, to state that I invited, not happily, almost all Democrat Governors to the Governor’s Dinner at the White House,” Trump wrote in a Thursday Truth Social post. “Stitt, a wiseguy, knew this, but tried to get some cheap publicity by stating otherwise.”

Trump’s latest criticism against the Republican comes after Stitt, who serves as chair of the National Governors Association, became embroiled in a back-and-forth over whether Democrats would be invited to the routinely bipartisan governors event. Stitt at one point announced that a bipartisan business meeting with the president would be removed from the NGA’s agenda for the weekend because the White House said Democrats would be excluded from the event.

After a conversation with Trump, Stitt informed governors on Wednesday that all governors would be invited to the meeting, attributing the dispute to a “misunderstanding in scheduling,” according to a letter viewed by POLITICO.

But that wasn’t enough to salve the president’s displeasure: In a Wednesday afternoon social media post — after Democrats had begun receiving invitations to the meeting — Trump took to Truth Social to lament that “as usual with him, Stitt got it WRONG!”

All governors were welcome at the event, Trump wrote, except two Democrats: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — the latter of whom had already received a formal invitation to the meeting at the time of the post, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In the Thursday morning post, Trump took credit for Stitt’s victory in his last race for governor, writing that the Republican “was massively behind his Opponent in his previous Election for Governor” and “called me to ask for help.”

Trump added: “I Endorsed him (Barely!), and he won his Race,” but the president eagerly anticipated the arrival of the governor’s successor. Stitt is term-limited and cannot seek another term when his current one expires in 2027.

A spokesperson for Stitt’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a spokesperson for the NGA declined to comment on the post.

Stitt’s position atop the NGA has put him at odds with the president on at least one other occasion, when the Oklahoma Republican broke with his party to criticize the administration’s cross-state National Guard deployments last year.

The dispute regarding the upcoming NGA weekend has reignited tensions within the association, with 18 Democratic governors vowing to boycott a bipartisan dinner over the White House’s handling of the invitations.

With regard to the event, Trump wrote Thursday: “I’ll see whoever shows up at the White House, the fewer the better!”

Virginia Democrats are moving forward with plans to gerrymander their way to four more congressional seats — but they need help from the state’s top court.

After a lower court blocked Democrats’ efforts to amend the state Constitution and redraw federal congressional lines ahead of this fall’s midterm elections, the Virginia Court of Appeals requested the Virginia Supreme Court weigh in.

That puts the fate of the map — and potentially congressional control after the 2026 midterms — in the hands of a group of justices that observers say can be hard to predict.

Political and legal experts in Virginia agree the state Supreme Court is not overtly ideological, with many describing it as “small-c conservative,” leaning heavily on tradition and precedent rather than handing down ideologically right-wing rulings. And many observers say the court is wary of wading too heavily into political fights. But this time, it’s unavoidable.

“It's kind of a state Supreme Court tradition to stay away from political matters whenever they can. They like to leave the legislating to the legislature. So this is going to be a really interesting test of that tradition,” said Carolyn Fiddler of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, who attended William & Mary Law School in Virginia and worked in state politics.

Virginia is one of only two states where the legislature elects Supreme Court justices. Because the state has had divided control for much of the past quarter century, the balance of the court’s justices were appointed by bipartisan compromise. The court’s current seven members include one justice who was elected when Democrats had sole control of the General Assembly, three when Republicans controlled both chambers and three when control of the legislature was split.

“I voted for all these people – every one of them — and I don’t think any of them are overly political. And they shouldn’t be,” said Virginia House of Delegates Minority Leader Del. Terry Kilgore (R), who said he thinks the court will rule in his side’s favor. “They just should follow the law. If they do, we win.”

The question before the Virginia Supreme Court is not if, but when, new maps are allowed to go into effect — and whether they’ll be in place for this year’s midterms.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signed legislation scheduling a statewide referendum for April 21 last week, asking voters to grant state lawmakers the power to redraw federal Congressional lines immediately. It came a day after Democratic state lawmakers unveiled proposed maps that aim to tilt the congressional map 10-1, potentially handing Democrats four more House seats and leaving just one Republican in the federal delegation.

But a wrench was thrown in their plans when a circuit court judge in conservative Tazewell County ruled late last month that Virginia Democrats did not follow proper procedure when initiating the constitutional amendment.

To change the Virginia Constitution is a multi-step process, requiring approval by two separate sessions of the General Assembly with a statewide general election for the House of Delegates taking place in between those sessions.

Judge Jack Hurley ruled that because early voting was already underway when the General Assembly first passed the amendment last October, it should not count as the first step. If the Virginia Supreme Court agrees, the earliest the state could enact new maps is after the next legislative election in 2027 — a blow to Democrats’ hopes of winning back the House this fall.

It’s a question both sides hope the top court weighs in on – and quickly.

“If they answer the question that there was not an intervening election, which, that's the big one … then the redistricting is dead,” said former Del. Tim Anderson (R), and who is a practicing attorney. “If they say that there was an intervening election, then the redistricting amendment will go forward.”

The next opening on the court's docket for a new case is March 2, a tight timeline since that's the same week early voting is scheduled to begin.

Jay O’Keeffe is a left-leaning appellate attorney based in Roanoke who has argued before the top court. He said it is not uncommon for the justices’ opinions to reference Sir William Blackstone’s “Commentaries on the Laws of England,” the 18th century treatise often cited by those who interpret the law through an originalist, conservative-leaning reading of the law.

“The justices I've dealt with don't seem to see themselves as political actors,”O’Keeffe said. “But you could imagine a more progressive court … approaching the whole job of judging in a different way.”

The question both Democrats and Republicans hope the Virginia Supreme Court will answer is whether the April referendum vote can proceed.

“In matters like this, the Supreme Court is going to try to call it right down the middle, and not on a political basis,” said Steve Emmert, a retired appellate lawyer. “What the parties need now is certainty, and they need it soon.”

Voters are already asking artificial intelligence chatbots about candidates, but campaigns don’t yet know what those large language models might say about them or how to shape those answers — one of many AI-fueled campaign challenges a new Democratic-aligned tech group is hoping to solve.

Tech for Campaigns, a political nonprofit focused on helping Democrats adopt better data and digital marketing techniques, is launching a new initiative called The Lab, aiming to conduct experiments on how Democrats can use AI to win. The group says it is prepared to spend millions partnering with Democratic outside groups in key states and battleground races, with the hopes of helping the party make progress in an area they say it has so far neglected.

“Democrats have shown … they're not willing to try new things. They wait too long and often are at a disadvantage,” said Jessica Alter, board chair at Tech for Campaigns. “With how fast AI is moving, that disadvantage will compound and be very dangerous.”

Campaigns across the political spectrum are grappling with how to take advantage of the rapidly evolving technology. Major Republican groups have embraced AI-generated content for ads more than their Democratic counterparts in the past year, although some Democratic campaigns have used AI imagery. AI-generated ads tend to be less expensive for campaigns, but strategists are still figuring out how voters feel about them — Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s Senate campaign came under fire this week amid online accusations that her latest ad featured an AI-generated crowd image, although her campaign said it “was created through hundreds of hours of real craft and collaboration between creatives and union labor” without commenting on whether AI was also used.

And ads are just one piece of the AI campaign blitz. Groups have rolled out AI initiatives on everything from writing fundraising emails to searching for opposition research.

Tech for Campaigns wants to go beyond those uses. Its plan is to partner with outside groups in key races to fund experiments on different uses of AI. Modeled after a Silicon Valley-style startup accelerator, the group plans to pair campaign groups with tech executives and commercial experts from companies including Netflix and Y Combinator..

Each experiment is expected to take between two weeks and two months and cost between $50,000 and $150,000. Tech for Campaigns is inviting organizations to apply, and is hoping to conduct around 20 experiments this year. The results will be shared among Democrats widely, with the goal of more campaigns replicating tactics that work and avoiding those that don’t.

Among the challenges the group hopes to tackle: Shaping how candidates show up in output from large language models such as ChatGPT, a practice known as answer engine optimization. Outside researchers have found that AI chatbots can be effective at political persuasion, with voters shifting their opinions on candidates or issues after a short conversation.

Alter said campaigns need to ensure they are well-represented in chatbot results about them, lest the chatbot basing their response more on an opponent’s research and messaging. While major companies are prioritizing shaping chatbots’ response, she said, campaigns so far have been more hesitant to work on it.

The group also hopes to study whether AI tools can help with personalized communication and how Democrats can make better use of platforms, such as Reddit, where the party has generally had less of a presence.

Alter said Republicans have shown an advantage in recent years when it comes to adopting new technologies, from year-round digital advertising to podcasts. The new initiative aims to make sure that GOP advantage does not extend to AI too.

“It’s the most powerful technological advancement of our time,” Alter said. “So I don’t think they're gonna eschew it.”

A version of this article first appeared in POLITICO Pro’s Morning Score. Want to receive the newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.

The six Democrats who urged military servicemembers in a video not to comply with illegal orders notched a significant legal win when federal prosecutors failed to criminally indict them. Now they’re looking to gain political momentum and build their campaign war chests.

“We are not done,” said Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan at a press conference alongside fellow House members.

“We will continue to push back. The tide is turning and accountability is coming,” Colorado Rep. Jason Crow said in a video posted to social media.

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin said in a fundraising email: “They tried to indict me.”

The group of Democrats, including two senators and four House members with backgrounds in national security, came out swinging against President Donald Trump and the Justice Department Wednesday for what they said was an abuse of power and a threat against all Americans’ right to freedom of speech. In addition to a flurry of social media posts and two afternoon press conferences, several have been making the cable news rounds and scheduled appearances on high-profile late night TV shows — signs that they see political opportunity in Trump’s attacks and are hoping to bottle that clout.

"Democrats have limited power at the federal level right now and need to leverage every opportunity to capitalize on Trump's overreach and lawlessness to raise the necessary funds to ensure we have a balance of power at the end of the midterms,” said Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod. “It takes resources to get our message out, hold Trump to account, and win back seats, and I'm glad these members are seizing on this moment and fighting back.”

As Democrats sharpen their attacks against Trump heading into the midterms, his Justice Department’s unprecedented attempt to prosecute the Democratic lawmakers — most of whom represent crucial battleground states like Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania — has inadvertently elevated their profiles. And the Trump administration, by failing to secure an indictment after months of public sparring with the Democrats and threats from the president, has bolstered their credibility as bare-knuckle fighters who can take on Trump and win.

In this attention-driven political economy, Trump has given a valuable boost to a group of Democrats that includes some with an eye toward future leadership positions in the party – including for Slotkin and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, who are often discussed as potential future presidential candidates.

“Trump has elevated them by his baseless attacks and his attempt to weaponize the judicial system against them that has flopped so hard,” said Democratic strategist Ian Russell. “That certainly has given them a platform – an even larger platform – as leaders who are focused on keeping our country safe, serving those who serve us, and so forth.”

The six members of Congress released a video on social media late last year urging military servicemembers to ignore illegal orders amid questions about the legality of the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats from Latin America. That quickly drew Trump’s ire and prompted the launch of an investigation into the group that they lambasted as politically motivated.

The Department of Justice’s failure to indict the Democrats gave them a new opportunity to draw attention.

“Today wasn’t just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country,” Slotkin posted on X Tuesday night, as the first reports circulated that a grand jury had rejected the attempt to indict her and five Democratic colleagues.

Slotkin has become one of the party’s most prominent voices as it seeks to chart a path out of the political wilderness. Seizing on the new political attention — which can be hard to come by in a Republican-controlled Washington — she sent a fundraising appeal the next morning, held a press conference, went on TV and sent a barrage of posts on X.

“The investigations kept coming when we were quiet. So, if it's going to be bad when you're quiet, you might as well go on offense and have this conversation publicly,” Slotkin said in an interview on MS Now.

The strategy reflects a broader dynamic for the Democratic Party: Trump’s actions often serve as their best fundraising tool. A POLITICO analysis of ActBlue data this week found that many of the party’s largest online fundraising spikes last year came after a Democrat stood up to — or was attacked by — Trump.

“Trump elevating them is the kind of thing that makes Democratic donors, strategists, activists, go, ‘Ah, I like what I see,’” said Russell, the Democratic strategist.

That dynamic has proven especially true for Kelly, who is also in a protracted public battle with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over the video. Hegseth initiated a review of Kelly’s public comments that could demote the Navy captain’s rank and reduce his retirement pay. Kelly has sued to halt the review.

Kelly has emerged as a top Democratic fundraiser, the POLITICO analysis found, dominating online fundraising for weeks after the Pentagon announced the investigation even though he’s not up for reelection this year.

Shortly before news broke Tuesday night that a grand jury had declined to charge the Democrats, the Arizona senator blasted out another fundraising appeal that nodded to his legal proceedings. “What we need from this team, right now, is the peace of mind that Mark has all the resources he’ll need to stay the course,” said one fundraising email signed by “Team Kelly” on Tuesday.

At least two of the House Democrats investigated by the Justice Department sent similar pleas for cash in recent weeks. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) – who serves as one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s recruitment co-chairs – asked supporters for $10 after detailing the federal inquiry opened into the video, and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) made clear in his own pitch that he would not “be intimidated by any harassment campaign.”

In addition to fundraising appeals and appearances on cable news shows, the House members — which also includes Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire — presented a unified front at a Wednesday press conference, casting the effort as political retribution.

“This was about Donald Trump trying to send a message, a message that if you dare step out of line, if you dare dissent and speak up and push back against his agenda, that you will be crushed,” Crow, the Colorado Democrat, said at the press conference.

Longtime Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson said the failed indictments — and broader message of retribution — gives lawmakers in his party a potent political argument: Democrats were right when they warned that Trump was going to use the justice system for his personal retribution.

“He proved they're not the boy who cried wolf,” he said. “They're the meteorologist who predicted the hurricane.”

The POLITICO Poll, conducted Feb. 6-Feb. 9, surveying respondents' views of the United States as a partner and ally on the global stage.

Trump is Pushing Big Tech on Data Center Energy Costs

lead image