Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) dodged on whether he has his eyes on the White House in 2028, saying he wants to improve the Democratic Party‘s favorability after a poll showed nearly two-thirds hold an unfavorable view of the party.
Kelly made his statement after he spotlighted the party’s “messaging problem,” which he said the party must “fix.” The Arizona senator just completed a town hall in Michigan, a key battleground state, on Friday, prompting CNN anchor Jake Tapper to ask if Kelly has presidential hopes.
“I know you want a yes or no answer. … And I‘m not going to give you a yes or no one, because I‘m just trying to do this job. Get the word out to the American people, and I‘m trying to improve the polling that you talked about and just listen to voters, wherever they are about, what are the problems they‘re dealing with, and how do we fix them,” Kelly said on CNN’s State of the Union.
Kelly detailed how his visit to Michigan was to talk to voters about the recently-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling it “a bad deal for the American people.” He expressed hope people will “understand” that Democratic lawmakers are “fighting for them.”
DEMOCRATS’ POPULARITY FALLS FURTHER AS NEARLY TWO-THIRDS HOLD ‘UNFAVORABLE’ VIEW OF PARTY: POLL
Kelly targeting the “big, beautiful bill” comes ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, in which his party is seeking to retake control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has encouraged the Republican Party to demonstrate how Trump and his “big, beautiful bill” are improving the lives of voters.
On the other side of the aisle, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also recently asked about potentially seeking the White House in 2028, though he deferred to Vice President JD Vance and said he hopes Vance runs.