Kamala Harris holds commanding lead over Democrats in new 2028 presidential poll

Harris receives twice the support of her nearest potential rival as she increases her political visibility ahead of the midterms.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is still the clear frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, a new survey of voters has found.

Harris, who won the Democratic nomination for president in 2024 and lost to President Donald Trump after running a historically short campaign in just 107 days, topped a list of potential Democratic candidates. Among Democratic voters surveyed by Focaldata/Financial Times, 30% said they preferred Harris, the first woman elected as U.S. Vice President and the first Black and Indian woman to win a party’s presidential nomination.

Harris’ closest competitor is Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, who received backing from 15% of polled voters. Newsom has remained close to the top of the list of potential 2028 presidential candidates; however, he recently said he would not run for the White House if Harris decided to run again. The California governor cited Harris’ base of supporters and overlapping network as powerful California Democrats as his reason not to run against Harris in a Democratic primary contest.

Other top-tier Democrats on the list included U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Pete Buttigieg, the former U.S. Transportation Secretary under the Biden-Harris administration and 2020 presidential candidate. Both Democrats received 9% support from Democratic voters.

As for the Republican presidential nomination, GOP voters overwhelmingly support U.S. Vice President JD Vance as President Trump’s successor with 38%, followed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio (24%) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis receiving 9%.

Since losing the 2024 election, Harris has remained a frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nomination. It follows more than a year of polling showing Democratic voters continue to hold Harris in high regard for a rematch in the next presidential election. Political experts point to Harris’ strong national name ID, considering she was most recently on the ballot in 2024 cycle.

Following a months-long book tour promoting her memoir detailing her historic 2024 presidential campaign, Harris has been increasing her visibility. The former vice president has used her public appearances and social media to consistently call out the actions of Trump during his second term as president, from his immigration policies to his efforts to push Republicans to redraw voting maps at the expense of Black majority districts in the U.S. South.

Most recently, Harris has been hitting the campaign trail to boost Democrats on the ballot this midterm election. Last month, she traveled to Michigan to campaign with Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson.

In addition to national name ID and visibility, Harris also maintains strong support from the party’s loyal voting base: Black voters.

“It’s good to see that Kamala Harris is going to step in and do what she needs to do,” says Alvin Tillery, a political scientist and CEO of the 2040 Strategy Group. “She’s still the most popular, active politician with Black voters, particularly those crucial Black women voters in the Gen X and Baby Boom segments that make everything happen in the Black community.

Tillery says that Harris’ latest movements signal she will run again. However, if she does, he tells theGrio that the former vice president and California Attorney General will “need a new approach” from her 2024 run, citing challenges she faced with young voters and voters of color who took issue with the Biden-Harris administration’s support of Israel’s military strikes in Gaza, which has killed more than 75,000 Palestinians.

The political expert said, “The electorate writ large, and not just Black voters, is far more to the left of the party establishment.”

Tillery said a poll conducted by the 2040 Strategy Group found that one in 10 Black voters stayed home for the 2024 election due to Harris not drawing a clear distinction between her and Biden on the issue of Gaza. However, he tells theGrio, “I think that she’s learned that lesson.”

When asked about whether or not she will run again for president, Harris has demurred; she’s often said she is “thinking” about it. When asked by Brittany Packnett Cunningham on the “UNDISPUTED” podcast about sentiments that the country isn’t ready for a Black woman president, evidenced by her 2024 loss, Harris rejected the notion.

“I don’t like to look backward, but for the sake of the facts, we were the closest presidential election in the twenty-first century to elect a Black woman president,” she said.

Harris added, “Don’t tell me I can’t do it.”