WASHINGTON — The senators, House members and governors most often mentioned as 2028 presidential prospects held about $118 million in their federal campaign accounts heading into last week’s midterms, and federal rules let a candidate carry that money into a White House run, according to a Washington Inquisitor review of Federal Election Commission records.
Four Democrats account for more than 70% of it. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona reported $26.5 million in cash on hand at the end of September. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who was on the ballot this year, reported $22.9 million in mid-October. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York reported $17.6 million, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic nomination who has led the field in early-state visits, reported $16.6 million, up from $10.7 million when the cycle began.
The review covers each prospect’s principal campaign committee and, where one exists, the leadership PAC they use to raise money and give to other candidates. It relies on the committees’ most recent reports: the pre-general reports covering activity through Oct. 14, or, for committees not in this year’s races, the October quarterly reports through Sept. 30. Reports covering the final weeks of the campaign are due Dec. 3, according to the FEC’s 2026 calendar.
The figures are a snapshot of federal money only. Governors such as Gavin Newsom of California, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan raise most of their money under state law, and others, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, were not included because no federal committee tied to them turned up in the records reviewed. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hold executive posts and have raised little through the federal committees reviewed here.
Why the campaign accounts matter
A member of Congress who runs for president can move leftover money from a House or Senate campaign committee into a presidential committee. FEC regulations allow transfers “between a candidate’s previous Federal campaign committee and his or her current Federal campaign committee,” as long as the candidate is not running for two federal offices at once and the money was raised within federal limits, under 11 CFR 110.3(c)(4).
Leadership PACs are different. The FEC says they remain legally unaffiliated with the sponsor’s campaign, and “any support from the leadership PAC that could be paid by the candidate’s authorized committee is a contribution from the leadership PAC to the candidate,” which is subject to contribution limits. A leadership PAC’s main value to a would-be candidate lies elsewhere: building donor lists, paying for travel and giving to other candidates whose support may matter later.
| Prospect | Committee | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand | From individuals | Unitemized (under $200) | Given to other committees | Through |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) | Mark Kelly for Senate | 47.54 | 25.44 | 26.50 | 47.01 | 29.73 | 0.54 | Sept. 30 |
| Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) | Cory Booker for Senate | 21.28 | 9.57 | 22.90 | 15.68 | 9.36 | 0.51 | Oct. 14 |
| Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress | 38.03 | 24.19 | 17.58 | 37.24 | 24.36 | 0.05 | Oct. 14 |
| Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) | Ro for Congress | 15.32 | 9.45 | 16.58 | 14.26 | 1.89 | 0.00 | Oct. 14 |
| Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) | Jon Ossoff for Senate | 115.90 | 105.76 | 15.13 | 102.23 | 55.34 | 1.09 | Oct. 14 |
| Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) | Friends of Chris Murphy | 14.02 | 8.03 | 11.52 | 12.62 | 8.26 | 0.00 | Sept. 30 |
| Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) | Ted Cruz for Senate | 12.42 | 10.97 | 3.24 | 10.29 | 4.82 | 0.54 | Sept. 30 |
| Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) | Gallego for Arizona | 4.84 | 2.81 | 2.24 | 3.89 | 1.94 | 0.50 | Sept. 30 |
| Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) | Klobuchar for Minnesota | 2.52 | 3.15 | 1.15 | 1.58 | 0.70 | 0.16 | Sept. 30 |
| Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) | Josh Hawley for Senate | 1.91 | 1.38 | 0.82 | 0.33 | 0.07 | 0.03 | Sept. 30 |
| Vice President JD Vance | JD Vance for Senate Inc. | 0.23 | 0.21 | 0.16 | 0.12 | 0.01 | 0.08 | Sept. 30 |
Khanna’s steady build
Khanna’s committee is a case study in patient accumulation. It raised $15.3 million in the two-year cycle, almost all of it, $14.3 million, from individual donors, and spent $9.5 million while holding a safe Silicon Valley seat. The result was a war chest that grew by roughly $5.9 million during the cycle, to $16.6 million as of Oct. 14, the FEC totals show. Among the House members and senators reviewed, only Kelly, Booker and Ocasio-Cortez reported more cash.
The structure of his fundraising differs from Ocasio-Cortez’s. About $12.4 million of Khanna’s individual money came in itemized contributions, gifts from donors who gave more than $200 in the cycle, while Ocasio-Cortez raised $24.4 million in unitemized small-dollar gifts, about 64% of her total receipts. Both models have strengths in a presidential primary: a deep bench of repeat larger donors can fund an early operation, while a small-dollar list can be tapped again and again under the limits.
Khanna has not announced a 2028 campaign, but his balance puts him among the best-positioned House members in either party should he run.
The Senate war chests
Kelly’s $26.5 million is the largest sum in the group, and it is notable because Arizona’s next Senate race for his seat is not until 2028. His committee reported $47.5 million in receipts, $29.7 million of it in unitemized gifts, along with $505,000 in transfers to other authorized committees.
Booker, who faced voters this year, still had $22.9 million on hand in mid-October after spending $9.6 million. His committee gave $512,780 to other political committees during the cycle.
Ossoff raised the most money by far, $115.9 million, but spent $105.8 million on his re-election campaign in Georgia, leaving $15.1 million as of Oct. 14. His committee gave $1.09 million to other political committees, the largest such total in the group.
Among Republicans, Cruz’s campaign committee reported $3.2 million on hand at the end of September after raising $12.4 million. Hawley’s reported $821,336. Vance’s old Senate committee, which remains open, reported $156,507 and gave $80,000 to other committees.
The leadership PACs
For the governors and former officials in the field, leadership PACs are the main federal vehicle, and they show a range of strategies, according to the committees’ reports.
| PAC | Associated with | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand | Passed on | Through |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win the Era PAC | Pete Buttigieg | 16.49 | 11.18 | 6.70 | 0.26 | Oct. 14 |
| In This Together PAC | Gov. Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) | 4.57 | 2.71 | 2.08 | 0.77 | Oct. 14 |
| Campaign for Democracy PAC | Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) | 4.39 | 3.59 | 6.94 | 0.01 | Oct. 14 |
| Fight Like Hell PAC | Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) | 1.55 | 1.87 | 2.35 | 0.09 | Sept. 30 |
| Jobs, Freedom, and Security PAC | Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) | 1.28 | 1.69 | 2.18 | 0.94 | Oct. 14 |
| Courage to Change | Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.24 | 0.18 | Oct. 14 |
| Reclaim America PAC | Secretary of State Marco Rubio | 0.12 | 0.05 | 0.12 | 0.00 | Sept. 30 |
The PAC associations follow the committees’ FEC filings, which list Ocasio-Cortez, Cruz and Rubio as sponsors, and reporting by Politico on the Buttigieg, Beshear, Whitmer and Newsom PACs. Fight Like Hell PAC’s website and In This Together PAC’s website feature Whitmer and Beshear by name.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s Win the Era PAC raised $16.5 million, more than any other leadership PAC in the group, with $12.4 million in unitemized gifts. It spent $11.2 million, mostly on operations, and gave $255,770 to federal candidates, leaving $6.7 million in the bank.
Beshear’s In This Together PAC passed on the largest share of what it raised. Of $4.6 million in receipts, it gave $220,000 to federal candidates and $50,000 to other committees and reported $500,000 in independent expenditures, about $770,000 in all, or 17% of receipts.
Newsom’s Campaign for Democracy PAC reported $6.9 million on hand, more than it raised in the cycle, because it carried a balance over from earlier years. Only $227,591 of its $4.4 million in receipts came directly from individuals, the totals show, and it gave $8,000 to federal candidates. Newsom has also raised money for state parties, according to Axios, which these figures don’t capture.
Cruz’s PAC was the most active giver among Republicans, with $345,000 to federal candidates and $596,500 to other committees, together about 74% of its $1.3 million in receipts. Rubio’s Reclaim America PAC raised $117,770 in the cycle and gave nothing to candidates.
What the numbers don’t show
Cash on hand is not the same as a campaign. Presidential primaries are financed mostly by new money raised under the per-election limit on individual gifts, $3,500 in the 2025-26 cycle, plus allied super PACs, which can raise unlimited sums and are not included here. Senators and House members who ran this year, including Booker, Ossoff and Ocasio-Cortez, also had real races to fund, and their balances will change once the post-general reports are filed.
The review also leaves out committees whose ties to a prospect could not be confirmed from FEC records or credible reporting. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, for example, is not included.
Still, the records show which prospects have built federal fundraising operations that could convert quickly. Four Democrats, Kelly, Booker, Ocasio-Cortez and Khanna, each hold more than $16 million that could move straight into a presidential committee if they ran and met the transfer rules. No Republican prospect reviewed holds more than $3.3 million in a federal campaign account.
The 2028 race is officially open to anyone who files with the FEC, and no major candidate from either party has declared. The Washington Post reported Monday that the Democratic field has no front-runner, and President Trump said on CBS’s 60 Minutes that he would “probably, not necessarily” endorse in the Republican primary, USA Today reported.
Methodology
The Inquisitor pulled cycle-to-date totals for the 2025-26 cycle from the FEC’s public API on Nov. 10, 2026, for each committee listed. Cash on hand is the ending balance on the latest report. “Given to other committees” for campaign committees combines the FEC’s “other political committee contributions” and “transfers to other authorized committees” fields. For PACs, “passed on” combines contributions to federal candidate committees, contributions to other political committees and independent expenditures. Figures are rounded to the nearest $10,000 in the tables.
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