Harris is Democrats’ preferred choice for 2028: Poll

Despite her loss to President-elect Trump in the 2024 White House race, Vice President Harris is Democrats’ top choice to be their party’s 2028 presidential nominee, according to a new survey. 

The poll, released by Puck News/Echelon Insights, found that 41 percent of likely Democratic voters would vote for Harris to be atop the Democratic ticket in 2028. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) placed second at 8 percent, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who was in the running to be Harris’s vice president this cycle, garnered 7 percent. 

Both Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), Harris’s vice presidential pick, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020, got 6 percent. 

Harris lost the 2024 election to Trump earlier this month. The Republican won all seven battleground states, secured the popular vote and made inroads in some Democratic strongholds.

In the survey, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) received 4 percent support, ahead of five Democratic governors included in the poll: Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer was at 3 percent and Illinois’s JB Pritzker and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear were at 2 percent apiece, while Colorado’s Jared Polis and Maryland’s Wes Moore came in at 1 percent apiece. 

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who also ran in the 2020 Democratic Party primary, received 2 percent backing.

About 16 percent of respondents were unsure about their choice, and about 1 percent wanted someone else. 

On the other side of the aisle, Vice President-elect JD Vance led the way with 37 percent when Republican respondents were asked who they would pick in their party’s 2028 primary. Former 2024 presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy were at 9 percent each. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was at 8 percent, while Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), whom Trump nominated to be secretary of State, garnered 5 percent apiece, according to the survey.

Some 3 percent wanted someone else, while 18 percent were unsure. 

The poll was conducted Nov. 14-18 among 1,010 likely voters. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points.