当州长。格雷琴·惠特默密歇根州州长上周宣布成立一个政治团体，以推动乔·拜登总统的连任竞选，并提升其他民主党人的地位。她提高了自己的地位并将聚光灯重新吸引到她和党内其他两位高调的州长身上，他们的总统抱负经常是讨论的话题。
惠特莫创建了“像地狱一样战斗”政治行动委员会——该委员会得名于她在最高法院判决后的强烈抗议驳回去年罗伊诉韦德案-把她放入民主政府的行列。分析人士说，加利福尼亚州的加文·纽瑟姆和伊利诺伊州的J.B .普利兹克，他们参与国家政策辩论和为联邦2024年竞选筹款，可能有助于他们为自己的未来制定路线，包括总统候选人。
“有一个很长的历史，可以追溯到20世纪70年代，渴望成为总统的个人建立这样的政治行动委员会，以建立政治支持，并在党内讨好最终的总统竞选，”竞选财务专家保罗·谢默斯·瑞安说。
普利兹克帮助吸引了明年的芝加哥民主党全国代表大会他承诺，他和当地的商业团体可以承担这次活动的债务。
纽瑟姆正在为红州的民主党人筹款，同时参与关于移民和枪支立法的辩论，甚至同意与佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)进行假设的对决，他是2024年共和党初选的领跑者，将由福克斯新闻频道的肖恩·哈尼蒂主持。
所有三名民主党人都有可能成为2024年的总统候选人在选民的担忧中80岁的拜登是否适合再干四年。但所有人都热情地支持拜登，并公开表示他们没有自己竞选的计划。
上周，普利兹克告诉“美国广播公司新闻直播”主播林西·戴维斯，他“很荣幸被认为是可能竞选总统的人之一”，但“拜登总统做得非常好。”
“在过去的两年半时间里，他所做的事情比大多数总统在四年或八年里所做的还要多。他将共和党人和民主党人团结在一起完成这项工作。因此，没有理由认为他在接下来的四年里也无法做到这一点，”普利兹克说。
民主党州长协会(DGA)的Devon Cruz表示，蓝州州长参与2024年选举周期对该党具有战略意义，因为他们在激励选民方面有着良好的记录。
克鲁兹在对美国广播公司新闻的一份声明中说，“毫不奇怪，民主党州长正在分享他们的成功故事，并在帮助拜登总统和其他民主党人连任方面发挥着更加突出的作用”。
作为一名多产的资金筹集者，Pritzker将资金投入到DGA等团体和高风险的比赛中，如最近的席位竞争威斯康辛州分歧严重的最高法院。纽瑟姆在三月份创立了一个民主政治行动委员会，在头两个月里筹集了400多万美元。
普利兹克的一些参与是以他作为州长的官方身份进行的。自2019年以来，民主党对伊利诺伊州立法机构的控制使他能够签署重大的新法律，包括通过先发制人的禁书禁令，提高最低工资，大麻合法化等。
但是，他也不遗余力地支持国家党，通过在战场选举中获得捐款，加入拜登的连任顾问委员会，并将即将到来的大会吸引到芝加哥。
到目前为止，纽森在州外的参与主要依赖于他在移民、堕胎和全国枪支限制等政策问题上的游说。
他直接与一些共和党对手纠缠不清，如德桑蒂斯和密西西比州州长泰特·里维斯。
在罗伊案被推翻后，纽瑟姆发起了一场广告运动，呼吁其他州采取与加州相似的堕胎政策——特别指出了正在推行限制堕胎法律的七个州。
纽瑟姆最近还提出了一项宪法修正案，以编纂一些枪支法规持续的大规模枪击事件。该修正案获得通过的可能性很低，它将把购买枪支的最低年龄提高到21岁，并要求进行普遍的背景调查，以及其他规定。
该提案引起了共和党众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡的注意，他说纽瑟姆是一个“极端立场”的“总统候选人”
惠特默也是拜登连任竞选的联合主席，他在纽瑟姆2019年上任前几天首次上任。她在2020年成为全国瞩目的人物，部分原因是前总统唐纳德·特朗普对她严格的新冠肺炎政策的批评。她也是一个右翼民兵组织挫败的绑架阴谋的目标。
她为扭转近百年的州堕胎禁令而发出的声音被认为有助于州民主党人在2022年取得成功，近四十年来首次赢得了对立法机构和州长的控制。
克鲁兹在谈到惠特莫时说:“看到她在2024年选举民主党人时发挥更加明显和支持性的作用，令人兴奋。”。
竞选财务专家瑞安说，惠特默的政治行动委员会筹集的资金可能标志着对她政治未来的投资。
这个新团体也反映了国家与国家政治之间关系的增长趋势。随着州级竞选的竞选资金变得越来越依赖宾夕法尼亚大学政治学教授丹·霍普金斯(Dan Hopkins)表示，在州外捐助者方面，政治家们越来越多地响应国家政治，而不是州一级的政治。
霍普金斯说:“越来越多的州级政治家的成功之路是在他们自己的政党内，而不是在他们的州议会内。”
霍普金斯补充说，州长在政党内为人所知的方式正在发生变化，从被视为“你所在州的有效领导人”变成“一个可以让你成为全国关注焦点的党派战士”。
3 Democratic governors are raising their profiles, which could chart paths to White House: Experts
When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan announced the start last week of a political group to boost President Joe Biden's reelection campaign and elevate other Democrats, she raised her own standing, too -- and drew the spotlight back to her and two other high-profile governors in the party whose presidential aspirations are often a subject of discussion.
Whitmer's creation of the Fight Like Hell political action committee -- which takes its name from her outcry after the Supreme Court decision overruling Roe v. Wade last year -- puts her in the ranks of Democratic Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, whose involvement in national policy debates and fundraising for federal 2024 races could help them chart courses for their own futures in office, including presidential candidacies, analysts say.
"There is a very long history, going back to the 1970s, of individuals aspiring to be president to set up PACs like this to build political support and curry favor within their party for an eventual presidential run," said campaign finance expert Paul Seamus Ryan.
Pritzker helped attract next year's Democratic National Convention to Chicago by promising that he, and the local business community, could foot the event's debts.
And Newsom is fundraising for Democrats in red states while wading into debates over migration and gun legislation, even agreeing to a hypothetical faceoff with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 Republican primary front-runner, that would be moderated by Fox News' Sean Hannity.
All three Democrats have been floated as possible 2024 presidential candidates amid voters' concern over the fitness of Biden, 80, to serve another four-year term. But all have enthusiastically endorsed Biden and publicly said they have no plans to run themselves.
Last week, Pritzker told "ABC News Live Prime" anchor Linsey Davis that he was "flattered to have been considered among people who might run for president" but that "President Biden has done a terrific job."
"This is somebody who, in the last two and a half years, has gotten more done than most presidents get done in four or eight years. And he's brought Republicans and Democrats together to get it done. So there's no reason to think that he isn't going to be able to do that for the next four years, too," Pritzker said.
Blue-state governors' involvement in the 2024 election cycle is strategic for the party, said Devon Cruz of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), because of their strong track record of galvanizing voters.
"It's no surprise Democratic governors are sharing their story of success and playing an even more prominent role to help reelect President Biden" and other Democrats, Cruz said in a statement to ABC News.
A prolific fundraiser, Pritzker has poured money into groups like the DGA and high-stakes races such as the recent contest for a seat on Wisconsin's narrowly divided Supreme Court. Newsom created a Campaign for Democracy PAC in March which raised more than $4 million in its first two months.
Some of Pritzker's involvement has been in his official capacity as governor. Democratic control of the Illinois Legislature since 2019 has allowed him to sign major new laws, including passing a preemptive ban on book bans, a minimum wage increase, marijuana legalization and more.
But he is also going out of his way to support the national party, through securing donations in battleground elections, joining Biden's reelection advisory board and attracting the upcoming convention to Chicago.
Newsom's involvement outside his state so far relies heavily on his lobbying on policy issues like immigration, abortion and gun restrictions across the country.
He's tangled directly with some GOP counterparts such as DeSantis and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves.
After Roe was reversed, Newsom launched an ad campaign calling for other states to adopt abortion policies that mirror California's -- specifically calling out seven states that were pursuing laws limiting abortion.
Newsom also recently proposed an amendment to the Constitution to codify some gun regulations in light of continued, high-profile mass shootings. That amendment, which faces low odds of being enacted, would raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21 and require universal background checks, among other provisions.
The proposal grabbed the attention of GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who said Newsom is a "presidential aspirant" with "extreme positions."
Whitmer, who also serves as a co-chair for Biden's reelection campaign, first assumed office just days before Newsom did in 2019. She rose to national prominence in 2020, in part because of former President Donald Trump's criticism of her strict COVID-19 policies. She was also the target of a thwarted kidnapping plot by a right-wing militia group.
Her vocal advocacy on behalf of reversing a nearly century-old state abortion ban was credited with helping state Democrats succeed in 2022, winning control over both the Legislature and governorship for the first time in nearly four decades.
"It's exciting to see her take on an even more visible and supportive role in electing Democrats up and down the ballot in 2024," Cruz said of Whitmer.
The money that Whitmer's PAC raises could mark an investment in her political future, Ryan, the campaign finance expert, said.
The new group also reflects a growing trend in the relationship between state and national politics. As campaign finance for state-level races becomes more and more reliant on out-of-state donors, politicians have grown more responsive to national, rather than state-level, politics, according to University of Pennsylvania political science professor Dan Hopkins.
"Increasingly, the pathway to success for a lot of state-level politicians is within their own party, rather than within their state house," Hopkins said.
The way for a governor to become known within a political party is changing from being seen as "an effective leader within your state" to "a partisan warrior who can get yourself in the national limelight," Hopkins added.
