Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego is set to meet with voters at the Iowa State Fair on Friday. His trip comes after a visit to Pennsylvania in May and weeks ahead of a planned trip to New Hampshire. These are all key stops for presidential campaigns.

Iowa

Democratic Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego is scheduled to meet with voters at the Iowa State Fair, where he plans to discuss the impacts of President Trump's recently passed budget bill. This visit follows recent trips to Pennsylvania and precedes a planned stop in New Hampshire, all of which are considered important states for presidential campaigns. 

Gallego has not explicitly stated his intentions regarding a 2028 presidential run, but his travel to these early nominating states has increased speculation. Other politicians, including Maryland Governor Wes Moore and California Governor Gavin Newsom, have also made similar visits, while Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has denied presidential ambitions despite his own travel to key states. The early activity suggests that potential candidates are positioning themselves ahead of the next election cycle.

Sen. Gallego to visit Iowa Fair amid presidential bid speculation

Democratic Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego is set to meet with voters at the Iowa State Fair tomorrow, and he plans to discuss the widespread impacts of President Trump's recently passed budget bill. Gallego's trip to Iowa comes after a visit to Pennsylvania in May and weeks ahead of a planned trip to New Hampshire. So what do those three states have in common? They are all key stops for presidential campaigns. CBS News Executive Director of White House and Politics Finn Gomez joins us now. And Finn, I was promised that you'd be joining us from the state fair. So I don't know where your corndog is, but we'll get to that in a moment. First though— I already ate it. I already ate it. You already ate it? I ate like four of them. Good. I'm glad you're taking care of business. You know, it's really interesting to hear this, though. Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa. Could this be seen as an early sign of 2028 presidential, you know, ambitions from Gallego? Look, if it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, and, you know, typically it's probably a duck. I mean, yes, we are, look, we are 450-plus days away from the midterms. We're nearly 1,200 days away from the 2028 presidential elections in that November. You know, it's a ways away, August 2025, but what you're seeing with Gallego is that he's raising his profile. He's raising his profile by going to these early nominating states. Tomorrow, here in Des Moines, he will be attending that Iowa State Fair, the iconic Iowa State Fair, where all, where many presidential hopefuls go to. It's a rite of passage here in the Hawkeye State. If you are interested in or contemplating a run for the White House, it's a mandatory stop. At the same time, you know, it's not just him. There's a variety of different Democrats you're seeing. Wes Moore also went to South Carolina. That's the governor from Maryland who's getting a lot of attention. Gavin Newsom, the governor from California, has also gone to some of these early nominating states. But there's a slew of them. When Gallego was asked by Major Garrett on the Takeout podcast, Takeout show, a little while ago, a few days ago, he basically, he didn't deny it, but he said he's trying to accumulate allies to combat against the Trump policies. But at the same time, by not saying it, by not saying no, it definitely increased, it definitely added to that amount of speculation that he is considering a White House bid. Gallego is not the only one doing some traveling. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is set to visit South Carolina this weekend, and that's after he visited Iowa last month. As you know, though, he has denied plans to run for president in 2028. But does this agenda of rather particular summer travel plans suggest otherwise? Again, I think it looks like, you know, it kind of looks like a duck, right? Like, that's this kind of situation. Yes, he has denied it. But by going to these early states, he's headlining this big fundraising dinner, the Silver Elephant Dinner in South Carolina tomorrow. He was here in Iowa last month. So yes, I mean, it seems to many Republicans I spoke to that he's someone that, you know, that he's testing the waters there. Also speaking to Republicans, they say that it's also very important not to try to get in front of what the White House is doing, what President Trump is doing. They, you know, potential Republican defenders who are considering bids for the White House are doing it somewhat tacitly, because if they, if you appear to be too out front in your interest, if you appear in that, in your efforts to potentially run, it could, it could irk that political operation, the political machine that surrounds President Trump. And it's really, and it's also he himself, President Trump also, if you recall this, Nancy, at a press conference earlier this week, he was asked about 2028. And he said that he really pointed to Vice President Vance as a potential 2028 candidate, and also his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who did run against him in 2016, if you recall, as a potential ticket. So it does add, again, we're so far away from the 2028 election cycle, but, you know, it feels like it's already started. It certainly does. I hope we get some funnel cake out there. Ben Gomez, thank you very much.

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Washington

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Jerusalem

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Beijing

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Breakdown