8 for ’28 Is Back with Newsom Still on Top and Mark Kelly Added to the List, Plus Alfonso and Jashinsky

Next Up with Mark Halperin

MK Media

News, Daily News, Politics

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2026

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“8 for ’28” is back. Mark Halperin debuts his February rankings of the most likely next Democratic presidential nominee, breaking down why Gavin Newsom and Josh Shapiro remain alone at the top of the list and why some major names are still on the outside looking in. He explains what’s driving movement early in the 2028 field, and what to watch for as the jockeying intensifies. Plus, Republican Wisconsin congressional candidate Michael Alfonso joins to discuss winning Donald Trump’s endorsement at just 25 years old, his views on Trump’s policy record, and how younger candidates view future-oriented issues such as China and artificial intelligence. And, Emily Jashinsky weighs in on the Epstein fallout, explaining when controversial associations should become career-ending and how politics and media decide who faces consequences. 120Life: Go to https://120Life.com and use code NEXTUP to save 20% Acre Gold: Start building physical gold with simple monthly payments and enter to win two Ancient Collection gold bars at https://GetAcreGold.com/MARK.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, everybody. I'm fired up again about today's show. I had the long weekend off and
0:06.3	did a lot of reporting over the weekend from my reported monologue about the Democrats in 2028.
0:11.4	You'll get that in a minute. I am Mark Halperin, editor-in-chief of the live interactive video platform
0:15.5	two-way and the host of Next Up. Very happy to have you here. And I think you'll be pleased you're giving me about an hour of your time because if you like to know what's next up regarding the Democrats in 2028, it's the February installment of 8 for 28, the top most likely Democrats to be their party's nominee in 2028.
0:37.9	Did lots of reporting over the holiday weekend, and I think you'll be interested in the results.
0:42.7	There are some people going up, some going down, and still the same very people at the very top.
0:48.7	But you'll see how I thought through this with my sources.
0:52.0	And then after that, two great guests, Michael
0:54.6	Alfonso, he's a young man running for Wisconsin 7th Congressional House District. It's an open
1:00.6	seat and it's a Republican district. So the winner of the August primary is almost certainly
1:05.4	going to be the next Congressperson from the district. There's a couple self-funders running
1:09.9	and there's no polling,
1:12.4	public polling, to say where it's going on. But we do know that Michael has a key asset. He's been
1:17.2	endorsed by Donald Trump. He's the youngest Republican congressional candidate in the country.
1:21.3	And you'll hear from him in a minute and see why it is that Donald Trump chose to endorse him.
1:27.4	It's interesting guy,
1:28.7	and you'll enjoy that conversation, I hope. And then Emily Jashinsky, my colleague here on the
1:33.0	Megan Kelly Network, will join me. She's the host of the after party on MK Media, and she and I are
1:38.2	going to talk about the Epstein matter. And the question is, who gets the professional death penalty
1:44.1	for association for Jeffrey
1:45.4	Epstein? What's the standard by which someone, the society or whoever, says that person
1:51.6	associated too much with Epstein? And I'm going to ask Emily what her standard is about that
	...

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