President-elect Donald Trump has not even been sworn-in yet and already polls are coming in on who might succeed him in 2028. That includes a long list of Democrats in what likely will be a crowded primary field.
An Emerson College poll asked which candidate voters would support in their party’s 2028 nominating contest. Among Democrats, 37% said Vice President Kamala Harris and 7% said California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro rounded out the top five, polling slightly lower than an Echelon Insights poll conducted a week after the 2024 election.
According to Politico, Harris told supporters she is not leaving the political arena despite her defeat in the recent presidential election. The vice president said that she wants to keep her options open.
One possibility would be a run for governor in her native California in 2026. Harris was once attorney general of California and is a Bay Area native. In addition, current Gov. Newsom is term-limited, leaving a major vacancy.
The same Emerson College poll found Vice President-elect JD Vance leading the pack on the Republican side, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in second, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy. DeSantis jumped into the conversation ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who polled in line with Ramaswamy in the post-election Echelon poll.
