Vance, Harris are favorites for 2028 election, poll finds. Who else receives support?

Brendan Rascius, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) on Apr 2, 2025

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The 2028 presidential election is a long way off, but Americans already have thoughts on who they might be willing to support, new polling shows.

In the latest YouGov/Economist poll, most Democrats said they’d consider voting for former Vice President Kamala Harris, and most Republicans said they’d consider casting their ballot for Vice President JD Vance, making them the two most popular choices.

But, a large share of respondents also signaled they’d be open to backing other politicians, some who have run for president before.

Here’s what the poll found.

Democrats

The poll — conducted March 30-April 1 with 1,626 U.S. adults — asked respondents whether they’d consider voting for 10 Democrats in the party’s 2028 primaries.

A majority of Democrats, 58%, said they’d be open to voting for Harris, who replaced former President Joe Biden as the party’s nominee in 2024 and lost to President Donald Trump.

Following her, 39% of Democrats said they’d consider voting for former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran for the party’s nomination in 2020. And 38% said they’d think about casting their ballot for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was Harris’ running mate in 2024.

Additionally, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders received 38% and 36% support, respectively. Sanders previously ran for the Democratic Party nomination in 2016 and 2020. And the pair have recently been traveling around the U.S. on their “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.”

The remaining five Democrats received lower shares of support. They were: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (33%), California Gov. Gavin Newsom (31%), New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (27%), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (25%) and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (23%).

Democrats were separately asked which of the 10 standard-bearers would be their ideal choice to be the party’s 2028 presidential nominee.

Here, there was no consensus, though Harris was still the clear favorite with 29% of respondents selecting her, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

Buttigieg came in second with 9%, followed by Newsom with 8%, Ocasio-Cortez with 7% and Sanders with 6%.

Republicans

The poll also asked respondents if they would consider supporting 10 Republicans in the party’s 2028 primary.

A strong majority of Republicans, 69%, said they’d be open to voting for Vance, positioning the vice president as the clear favorite to succeed Trump.

Meanwhile, 42% of GOP respondents said they’d consider supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ran for the party’s nomination in 2024. And 39% said they’d think about voting for Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest child, who has been an outspoken supporter of his agenda.

Following them, 34% said they’d consider backing Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and 33% said they’d think about supporting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Both men ran for the Republican nomination in 2016.

The remaining five Republicans received less support. They were: Vivek Ramaswamy (25%), Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard (22%), Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (24%), South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (20%) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (12%).

When asked which of these individuals would be their preferred choice for the party’s nomination in 2028, Vance again emerged as the frontrunner with 44% of Republicans choosing him.

Placing in a distant second was Trump Jr., with 12%. He was followed by DeSantis with 9%. There was a four-way tie for fourth place, with Rubio, Ramaswamy, Haley and Kennedy each receiving 3% support.

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