Vance, Harris seen as top 2028 White House contenders
Vice President JD Vance and former Vice President Kamala Harris are seen as top contenders for the White House in 2028 by their respective parties, according to the latest Economist/YouGov poll.
The poll, released Wednesday, asks Democrats and Republicans whom they would consider supporting in the 2028 presidential election and asks which person would be their “ideal candidate.”
Respondents were told to select from a list of 10 possible contenders affiliated with their respective party. That list was generated from a separate poll that included significantly more options from which to pick.
Among Republicans, 69 percent say they would consider voting for Vance, while 42 percent say they would consider voting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; 39 percent say they’d consider voting for the president’s son, Donald Trump, Jr.; 34 percent say the same for Secretary of State Marco Rubio; 33 percent say so about Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas). No more than one-quarter of Republican respondents say the same for any other name on the list.
The poll did not ask whether respondents would consider voting for President Trump in 2028 since he is term-limited and would not be eligible to run for a third time.
Vance’s popularity in his party becomes more apparent when respondents are asked to select their ideal candidate in 2028: 44 percent say Vance, 12 percent say Trump, Jr., 9 percent say DeSantis, and no other name gets more than 3 percent.
On the Democratic side, Harris, the 2024 Democratic candidate, similarly emerges at the top of the pack: 58 percent say they would consider voting for her in 2028, while 39 percent say they would consider voting for former Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, 38 percent say the same about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, 38 percent say so about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), 36 percent say so about Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and 27 percent say so about Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). No other candidate gets more than 25 percent support.
Asked to select one candidate as their “ideal choice,” 29 percent of Democrats opt for Harris, 9 percent say Buttigieg, 8 percent say California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 7 percent say Ocasio-Cortez, and 6 percent say Sanders.
The poll was conducted from March 30 through April 1 and included 1,626 respondents. The margin of error is 3.3 percentage points.