IOWA CITY, Iowa — With the midterm elections less than four weeks away, there’s a bit of a 2028 shadow campaign going on that includes a prominent Democrat warning his party to back off the liberal jargon.
Two potential White House contenders — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky and the GOP’s Donald Trump Jr. — stumped Thursday for their parties’ candidates in Iowa.
Both men appeared in separate college towns in a state that is in play in the midterms and historically serves as a testing ground for presidential wannabes.
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“Too much advocacy speak has crept into – especially the Democratic – lingo,” Mr. Beshear said to reporters after speaking to a small crowd at an Ames coffee shop near Iowa State University. “It makes it sound like we’re lecturing people. When someone doesn’t have enough to eat, they’re ‘hungry,’ they’re not ‘food insecure.’”
More than 100 miles away at a Turning Point USA event in Iowa City, Mr. Trump took the stage in a filled-to-capacity University of Iowa auditorium.
He said the most important thing in this election was to vote against Democrats who would create a “dystopian communist hellhole.”
“I understand the pain a lot of people are feeling, but think of what happens if you just let the other side win,” the president’s son said to cheers. “The reality is this: if you wish for Americans to succeed, don’t be demoralized. … Recognize that the risks that are standing at our doorstep, those are risks that can turn in our favor if we take action right now.”
In a state where voters say they are sick of being inundated with attack ads, Mr. Trump’s message came across as too forceful for some in the crowd.
Students in the crowd who disagreed with the tone cited slain Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk, famous for listening to and debating ideas he disagreed with.
“It was shocking how hateful the event was, which I feel like was not the Charlie Kirk way,” said Jacie Taylor, a freshman at the University of Iowa. “I feel like everything was about calling liberals fat and ugly, which was not very kind and I don’t agree with that.”
Mr. Trump visited the university as part of Turning Point USA’s “Love It or Leave It” fall campus tour, featuring Alex Clark, Russell Johnson and Ben Shapiro.
In Ames, Mr. Beshear said he has not decided whether to run for president, but that what happens in Iowa in this year’s elections will lay the groundwork for Democrats taking the White House in 2028.
As chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, Mr. Beshear was campaigning for gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, the state auditor who is locked in a toss-up race for the open seat.
“The governor’s races in ‘26 create the map for any Democratic nominee in ‘28,” Mr. Beshear told reporters. “When Rob wins here in Iowa, Iowa’s in play in ‘28. If Democrats want to win, want to run in more than just seven swing states in 2028, it’s about flipping governor seats today.”
Beshear’s message of “getting rid of this polarization” seemed to land with Barbara Wheelock, a retired physical therapist.
“I liked what he said about how the Democrats tend to get too wonky,” she told reporters after meeting him. “And just, you know, just plain talk to people.”
Mr. Beshear won a second term in 2023 in a state President Trump won in 2024 by almost 31%. He polls in the low single digits in the early lineup of possible 2028 Democratic contenders.
The younger Mr. Trump polls slightly better in the GOP lineup for 2028, trailing far behind Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Iowa has been the most important early presidential state for decades, but come 2028, only Republicans will flock to the state. The Democratic National Committee dropped Iowa as the kick-off nominating contest, scheduling the first primary in South Carolina to raise the profile of Black voters in picking the party’s nominee.
The early jockeying for 2028 is about to start in earnest once the midterm elections are over.
When Mr. Trump was asked about “underrated superstars” in the conservative movement, he said he is a “big believer” in Mr. Vance, before promoting Rep. Brandon Gill, the 32-year-old Texas congressman who is the youngest Republican in Congress.
Mr. Vance also visited Iowa in mid-September to boost the Republican candidate for governor, Zach Lahn, and some House Republicans in close races.
Kevin and Robin Vos, who are voting Republican down the midterm ballot, told reporters they would like to see Mr. Vance or Mr. Rubio run. Kevin Vos said he would consider any candidate, including Trump Jr., “as long as they stay with very conservative values — continuing MAGA.”
But for Republican Ryan Turner, a 41-year-old small business owner at the event, “the Trump name in general is pretty polarizing, and I think politics are going to be better without Trump involved.”
• This report was provided courtesy of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.
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