Texas Senate Revelations + New 2028 Presidential Polling

Next Up with Mark Halperin

MK Media

News, Daily News, Politics

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2026

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mark Halperin’s reported monologue delivers the truth about the Texas Senate race, including the actual factors that will determine if Ken Paxton or James Talarico wins. Plus, pollster Spencer Kimball joins the program with shocking new data on state of the 2028 presidential fields for both parties, while Steve Maltepes discusses the political bet Mark says voters and strategists should avoid making. Last but not least, Mark answers Nexters’ questions in the return of “Mark the Mailman.” Pressure - Focus Features: Go behind the scenes of the most high-stakes weather forecast in history to discover the true story of the meteorologists who risked everything to change the course of D-Day. 120Life: Go to https://120Life.com and use code NEXTUP to save 20% Bank On Yourself: Discover the retirement plan banks Don't want you to know about—get your free report at https://BankOnYourself.com/Mark Follow Next Up with Mark Halperin on all social platforms: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextuphalperin TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nextuphalperin X (Twitter): https://x.com/NextUpHalperin Connect with Mark Halperin on social media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markevanhalperin X (Twitter): https://x.com/markhalperin Find the full audio show wherever you get your podcasts: Apple — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-up-with-mark-halperin/id1810218232 Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/2f0n8G4xqUo8aGxbbbtRjH%3Fsi%3D8e4ff54000cc438d

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Next Up, everybody. All y'all, welcome in. I'm Mark Halperin. You know me by day as the host of Next Up, a leader of the Nexters, but by night, or really by day and night. I'm also editor-in-chief of Two-way, my live interactive video platform. We're a host programs there as well, but glad to be with you. Thank you for tuning in.
0:21.4	Good program for you today.
0:22.6	We're going to focus a lot on politics and the midterms.
0:26.2	But first, I want to thank you all for helping grow our YouTube subscriber base.
0:30.5	Told you the other day we're trying to get to 100,000, which is a good number for YouTube.
0:35.5	And we're getting closer, but we're not all the way there. So thanks to those you who went on the YouTube channel and subscribed. If you haven't yet, and you're within the sound of my voice or can see me, please go to the YouTube channel for Next Stop and subscribe. It would really help us out, and we'd appreciate it. Thank you. All right, a guest today. Spencer Kimball, he directs polling.
0:54.8	He's also an assistant professor at Emerson College, and they've got some new polling data out
0:59.5	that's so super interesting, both about President Trump, but also about 2028. We'll talk to him
1:04.4	about that. And then the Philly Godfather himself, Steve Maltepis is here. We're going to,
1:13.0	he's a professional politics and sports handicapper and author of Booked. We'll talk about the difference between polling and the
1:20.2	prediction markets and his view on some of the hot topics in politics right now. We'll talk to
1:25.0	both of them about what's going on in the current races.
1:27.8	But before they get here, my reported monologue on the midterms, you and I are going to spend
1:35.3	a lot of time together, the balance of this year on midterm mania.
1:42.2	And I want to focus today on one race in particular, the Texas Senate race.
1:47.3	Now, two nominees picked, Attorney General Paxton for the Democrat, for the Republicans, and
1:54.4	James Taurico for the Democrats.
1:56.9	We're going to dive into that race in specific, but I want to talk generally about my philosophy.
2:03.1	Because some of you are very familiar with my work, some of you less so.
2:06.5	I'm an old-fashioned reporter.
2:08.1	I'm not an advocate for either side.
2:10.2	I'm an advocate for the American people.
	...

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