Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, is the choice — by a large margin — of Democrats and left-leaning independents to be the party's candidate in the 2028 presidential race, according to a new Morning Consult poll released Friday.
According to the survey, Harris has 36% of the support if the 2028 Democratic primaries were held today, far outdistancing former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (10%).
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate in 2024, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are all tied at 5% among the 19 names surveyed, according to the poll. Buttigieg is technically in third place behind “someone else” at 13%, the survey said.
Other notables include billionaire Mark Cuban (4%), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (4%), Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey (3%), with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota all at 2%, according to the survey.
Buttigieg announced last week he would not seek the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, sparking speculation that he might be eyeing a 2028 run for the White House.
Politico reported last week that former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, onetime chief of staff to President Barack Obama, is gearing up for a run in 2028. However, he garnered just 1% of support and worse, 44% of those surveyed said they’ve never heard of him, according to the poll.
Harris herself is considering a run for California governor in 2026 to replace the termed-out Newsom. She has given herself a deadline of the end of summer to decide.
“But as Harris largely eschews the public spotlight except a filmed pull-aside following a Broadway show and an onstage interview at an AI conference in Las Vegas, this data does underline an opening for ambitious Democrats to try to fill a leadership gap on the campaign,” Morning Consult said in its analysis.
President Donald Trump handily defeated Harris by 312 to 226 electoral votes in 2024, sweeping all seven battleground states.