Harris Is Democrats’ Top Choice for 2028 Presidential Election: Poll

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Howard University in Washington on Nov. 6, 2024, after former President Donald Trump won a sweeping victory on Nov. 5 in the U.S. presidential election, Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

Despite losing the 2024 Electoral College and popular vote to President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris ranked the highest among potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates in a Nov. 20 survey.

The poll released by Puck News/Echelon Insights found that a plurality of Democratic respondents—41 percent—say they would vote to nominate Harris as the party’s standard bearer in the 2028 presidential election. The two hypothetical candidates that came in second and third place, respectively, were California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 8 percent and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at 7 percent. Shapiro was a top contender as Harris’s running mate before she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in early August.

Walz and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, tied for fourth place at 6 percent each.

Trump won 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226 and is currently leading 50 percent to 48.3 percent over the vice president in the national popular vote, according to The Associated Press. Trump is projected to maintain a lead in the popular vote, although the margin is narrowing as more votes are tallied in Democratic-leaning states, including California, Oregon, Colorado, and New York.

Other presidential choices for Democrats in 2028 include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) at 4 percent, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at 3 percent, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear each at 2 percent, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore both at 1 percent apiece.

Roughly 16 percent of respondents said they were unsure about their choice, while 1 percent said they would prefer a different candidate.

Despite the poll’s findings, it’s not clear how well Harris would perform in a hypothetical future Democratic presidential primary. She was the first candidate to drop out in the party’s 2020 primary, ending her campaign in December 2019 ahead of the Iowa caucuses. Some top Democrats have also criticized her campaign, strategy, and messaging heading into the Nov. 5 election after fundraising and spending a record amount of money.

Among Republicans, Vice President-elect JD Vance came out on top at 37 percent among favorites for the party’s 2028 presidential nominee. Former 2024 presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley tied for second place at 9 percent each.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in at 8 percent and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tied at 5 percent each. Rubio is Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State. Roughly 18 percent of Republican respondents said they were not sure, and another 3 percent said they wanted a different candidate.

The poll of 1,010 likely voters was conducted Nov. 14–18, with a 3.5 percent margin of error.