💪 The 2028 race for the White House will give new political clout to a long-overlooked constituency: Native American voters.

Driving the news: New Mexico now holds an influential early spot as one of the first states to vote in the Democratic primary — on Feb. 15, 2028. That's put Native Americans, who make up about 12% of the state, in position to wield more influence in the presidential race than ever before.

• In recent Democratic primaries, New Mexico typically has voted late in the season, in June. States that held the earliest primaries had much smaller Native populations.
• Now potential presidential campaigns are scrambling to adjust to the 2028 lineup, calling Native leaders to learn about Indigenous power players and the dynamics of tribal governments, Democratic operatives tell Axios.

🔎 Zoom in: Any presidential candidate who wants to win New Mexico is "going to have to listen to tribes," warned Deb Haaland, the former U.S. interior secretary who made history in 2021 when she became the first Native American to head a cabinet agency.

• "We could be a large part in who that nominee is."
• Native leaders and their allies say that will force presidential candidates to engage closely with tribal governments and pay attention to issues such as tribal sovereignty, land and water rights, and rural infrastructure.

📝 Several potential 2028 contenders are already taking notes.

• Isaac Dakota Casados, a New Mexico Democratic consultant and Navajo Nation member, told us his phone has been ringing off the hook as presidential campaigns-in-waiting look to learn more about Native voters.
• "They're really trying to figure out how the Native American demographic plays into this larger picture," he said. "I think they're used to speaking to Hispanic and Latino populations within their states. This is a very unique variable that's very different to them."
• Casados said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker acknowledged to him that he's "really gotta learn" about tribal leadership, while New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was "fascinated" by New Mexico's myriad tribal cultures in a recent conversation.
• Kalyn Free, a Choctaw Nation citizen who's on the Democratic National Committee's powerful rules and bylaws committee, also said she's been getting outreach from presidential hopefuls and their teams.

The jockeying among 2028ers to win Native American voters could help elevate new power players in the Indigenous community.

• Tribal governments will likely be courted for endorsements. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, is uniquely poised to become a sought-after validator for 2028 candidates in Indian country: She's running for governor of New Mexico this year.
• Some potential 2028 contenders already appear to be wooing Haaland. She met recently with Booker and is rallying with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg this weekend. Pritzker helped raise money for Haaland at an event in New Mexico this month.
• Haaland told us she talked with Pritzker about her efforts to investigate the troubled legacy of federal Indian boarding schools and President Trump's slashing of protections for Native American sacred sites.

🔭 Zoom out: New Mexico has the nation's third-largest share of people who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, and it includes 23 federally recognized tribes.

• When New Mexico votes in the presidential primary, the race will probably have been narrowed to two or three candidates — giving the state an oversized say in helping pick the party's nominee, Democratic strategists say.

Native leaders say their community's voters don't easily map onto the party's progressive-vs.-moderate divide, and stressed that the community isn't a monolith in general elections, either.

• In the 2016 Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton won some states with significant Native populations, such as New Mexico and Arizona — but Bernie Sanders carried others, such as Alaska and Montana.
• In 2024's general election, some Native voters across the country — who polls suggested had been hit particularly hard by inflation — shifted toward Trump.

Axios' Russell Contreras contributed reporting.

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— Holly Otterbein

A look at what potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders are up to:

• 👌 California Gov. Gavin Newsom sat down with Don Lemon while touring South Carolina and other Southern states. Newsom said he thinks House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is doing an "incredible job" and said he has "great respect" for the energy the Democratic Socialists of America are bringing to the party despite disagreements on some issues. He declined to weigh in on the Senate candidacy of DSA member Angie Nixon in Florida, saying he didn't know enough about the race.
• 🤖 Newsom also signed several state bills regulating AI and social media (to varying degrees). One bill bans addictive social media features for children under 16.
• ✝️ New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez traveled to Florida to campaign for Nixon and attend the National Baptist Convention, which bills itself as one of the "nation's oldest and largest African American religious organizations." She said she's "been amazed watching how God works" in the last two years and argued that the country is going through a "great realignment." Ocasio-Cortez's office did not advise reporters about the visit ahead of time.
• Former Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign with Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff at the end of October and keynote a Democratic Party dinner, CNN reported.
• 🦀 Maryland Gov. Wes Moore further teased a potential 2028 run, telling Bakari Sellers, "The truth is that I am going to be part of a bigger conversation going forward, because I think the state of Maryland, and what we've done, has justified that." See the full episode of "The Bakari Sellers Show" here.
• Moore also announced a raise in the minimum wage to $18 an hour for some Maryland Aviation Administration contract workers at Baltimore's main airport.
• Buttigieg continues to be one of the only 2028 contenders who's welcomed by fellow Democrats in the most competitive House districts this year. He'll campaign next week in New York's Hudson Valley with Cait Conley, who's trying to beat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.
• 🥊 Pritzker's PAC Ready for the Fight announced $20 million in spending to help House candidates, Politico reported.
• 🤠 Pritzker also traveled to Dallas as part of a Democratic counterprogramming effort to Trump's midterm convention. Pritzker argued that any Republican who attended is "probably going to be disqualified in 2028."
• Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly told 12News KPNX in Phoenix that he will make a decision about 2028 after the midterms, but that his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, is "very supportive" of him running. "She is a public servant through and through," he said.
• Kelly also walked in the Navajo Nation Parade in New Mexico and Arizona.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke at Shanksville, Pa., on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in remembrance of the victims of United 93. Shapiro called the field where the hijacked flight crashed "hallowed ground." Watch his full speech here.
• Buttigieg said on "Meet the Press" that he believes the country is ready for a gay president. "I wouldn't have run for president in the first place if I didn't believe that. Of course," he said via a remote interview from New Mexico.
• Booker encouraged his followers on X to watch an ad by former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, who's running for an Arizona House seat.

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin is a battleground state lawmaker, former CIA analyst, onetime assistant secretary of Defense — and, it turns out, hot dog royalty.

• 🥩 Her great-grandfather Sam Slotkin started a meatpacking company that invented Ball Park Franks. His business originally sold the official hot dog at the Detroit Tigers' stadium.
• A 1953 article in Time said the secret to Sam Slotkin's success was his frankfurters' "pure beef" contents — and branding.
• 👨‍🎨 "I am painting a picture as a life work," the elder Slotkin told the magazine. "Every day I put in a brush stroke or two."

The Slotkin family company, Hygrade Food Products, was acquired by Sara Lee Corp. in 1989, and after a business spinoff and another acquisition, Tyson Foods now makes Ball Park Franks.

• Early this year, Ball Park Franks ranked No. 1 in refrigerated hot dog sales — even above Oscar Mayer Wieners.