After former Vice President Kamala Harris dominated news cycles with her book, 107 Days, more politicians will release books in 2026.
The new year is expected to see a range of books from politicians ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential cycle, covering various topics.
Some of these authors have expressed interest in launching presidential campaigns, but not all of them. Ahead of a presidential election, it’s common for politicians to publish memoirs as a way to introduce themselves to the public and test themselves before launching a campaign for the White House.
Books published by politicians often give readers a glimpse into the life of elected officials and a behind-the-scenes look into the headlines the public sees every day.
Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA)
Release date: Jan. 27
In his first memoir, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) recounts challenging and pivotal moments in his personal life and political career. The book follows Shapiro throughout his “successful campaigns,” including for the Pennsylvania House, Montgomery County commissioner, Pennsylvania attorney general, and governor.
Shapiro opens up about a politically motivated fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s residence while he and his family were inside. He also touches on Harris considering him to be her running mate in 2024, and childhood experiences that shaped him to “be the empathetic leader and pragmatic problem-solver that he is today.”
“In telling this story, Shapiro reminds us of the faith that guides so many and that there is more that unites us as Americans than divides us,” publisher Harper Collins said in a press release. “Through it all, Shapiro shares the stories of the people who have impacted him along the way and how they’ve taught him where we keep the light.”
Shapiro, who is up for reelection in 2026, is viewed as a possible contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
Shapiro has gained national attention after hosting a bipartisan town hall about political violence with Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) at the National Cathedral in Washington and giving a speech after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, calling on politicians to condemn all acts of violence.
At the end of the town hall, Cox and Shapiro were both asked if either was running for president in 2028.
Shapiro did not respond, but Cox said, “One of us is not.”
Young Man in a Hurry by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)
Release date: Feb. 24
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is the latest politician to announce a memoir, surprising the public with a book about his upbringing and career. This is Newsom’s third book, which Penguin Press will publish. Newsom said the memoir is a “truly vulnerable book” and the story of an “outsider on the inside.”
Newsom shares “defining moments” that shaped him for a life in politics throughout the book.
The governor recounts his childhood with undiagnosed dyslexia and being “tugged between two worlds” between his single mother, who worked three jobs, and his father, who was close friends with the Getty family, exposing him to a “world of wealth and connections,” according to the book synopsis.
“Newsom traces the forces that have defined his ambitions as a politician and have pushed him to outpace the nation on myriad cutting-edge social issues that have since entered the mainstream,” the book synopsis says.
Newsom goes through his time as San Francisco mayor, highlighting when he violated state law by issuing same-sex couples marriage licenses and launching climate change, mental health, and gun advocacy initiatives. He also discusses his governorship, recounting the unprecedented wildfires and entering office to “hyper-partisan headwinds” from Washington.
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Newsom said the autobiography will put details “all out there.”
“This is not a politician’s book, it’s not a book that you would expect me to write,” he said at the Democratic National Committee meeting, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In recent months, Newsom has been more candid about a possible run for president in 2028. When asked if he would give “serious thought” about running for president, Newsom said, “Yeah, I would be lying otherwise.”
Stand by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Release date: March 24
Following his historic 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) recounts the experience and explores how “our choices today shape the future” in his new memoir, Stand.
Booker broke the record for the longest continuous Senate floor speech, which ran from March 31 to April 1, 2025, surpassing segregationist Strom Thurmond, who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during his record-setting speech.
The book is expected to be an amplification and continuation of the messages Booker discussed during his speech, which focused on Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies.
“This book is about the virtues vital to our success as a nation and lessons we can draw from generations of Americans who fought for them,” Booker said in the press release. “Now is not the time to surrender to cynicism or abandon our most noble ideals. Now is the time to defiantly declare like our ancestors before us: I too stand for America.”
The book was originally slated to be published on Nov. 11, 2025, according to a press release. However, the book is now listed for publication in March.
The publisher, St. Martin’s Publishing, did not respond to a comment about the reasoning behind the push in publication date.
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Booker, who is already a New York Times bestselling author, also revealed that he’s considering a bid for president in 2028.
“Of course I’m thinking about it,” Booker told Fox News in November. “I haven’t ruled it out.”
Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT)
Release date: Unknown
Cox gained national attention for his activism against political violence following Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University.
At a press conference in November, Cox confirmed that he is writing a book and that he secured a publishing deal with Penguin Press. Cox revealed that he has been working on the book for a couple of years and that it will explore where he thinks the country is headed and the increasing polarization.
“This is just something that is just so important to me, it’s something I believe in,” he said.
While politicians frequently release books before launching a presidential campaign, Cox emphasized that the book “is not that.”
“Let me make it very clear, I’m not running for president,” Cox said. “Have no interest in running for president. If nominated, I will not serve.”
Former President Joe Biden
Release date: Unknown
Former President Joe Biden revealed in July 2025 that he has been working on a memoir.
Although a title and release date have not been shared yet, Biden reportedly sold his presidential memoir for $10 million to Hachette Book Group’s Little, Brown & Company, according to the Wall Street Journal.
During a Q&A session at the Society for Human Resource Management’s convention in San Diego last summer, Biden said he has been “working like hell” with a publisher to write a 500-page memoir and has been doing a lot of research, according to the New York Post. This will be Biden’s third memoir.
“Every president is expected to write a memoir,” he said, noting that “most take between three and six years to get it done.”
Biden said in July that his publisher wants his presidential memoir done by “March of this year.”
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It is common for former presidents to write memoirs about their administrations to help shape their legacies. They also often receive large book advances. In 2017, there was a bidding war for the rights to two books by Biden and former first lady Michelle Obama for reportedly over $60 million combined, according to Axios.
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Release date: Unknown
Less than a month after Trump was sworn in, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a book deal with Crown Publishing, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
The book will offer readers a “rare glimpse” into the “challenging and often controversial” response from the Biden administration during global conflicts, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza.
Throughout the book, Blinken will take readers “into the Situation Room and the Oval Office to hear the discussions about how to keep tensions with China from spiraling to dangerous levels.”
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“In this candid work, he will offer the first inside story from within the administration on what really transpired in the run up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the difficult choices that shaped American diplomatic and military support in the months that followed in a war that would bring the world as close to nuclear conflict as it had come in more than half a century,” Crown Publishing said in a statement given to the Associated Press.
The Washington Examiner contacted Penguin Press, Little, Brown & Company, Crown Publishing, St. Martin’s Publishing, and Harper’s Collins for comment.
