While the United States is still years away from the next proposed presidential election, should Donald Trump not find a way to hold onto power as he has hinted at, new polls have started to gather data on who in the Democratic Party could be next to run for the party.
According to a Yale Youth Poll, taken at the beginning of April, three names stick out at the top of the list: Harris, Ocasio-Cortez and Buttigieg. In the recent poll, calculated from 4,100 registered Democratic voters, former Vice President Kamala Harris took the top spot at 28 percent, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came in at second place with 21 percent of the responses and Pete Buttigieg getting third with 14 percent.
Another poll taken by fairly new independent news media site Zeteo, in collaboration with Data for Progress, came to slightly similar conclusions. Using their poll’s questionnaire to see who voters might like to see lead the primary in 2028, Harris still gains the top spot at 18 percent, while Buttigieg, Ocasio-Cortez, and Senator Cory Booker range from 14 to 12 percent of responses.
Different with the Zeteo and Data for Progress poll was a section that took Harris out of the mix entirely. Even just after the 2024 election, rumors had started to circulate that Harris had been eyeing the governor seat in California in 2026, which would mean despite how requested she may be, Harris might be in another position in the U.S. government at that point.
Without Harris, Buttigieg seems to mix with Ocasio-Cortez in the positioning between first and second places in each poll.
What has driven up much of the conversation seems to be the activity specific members of the Democratic Party have exuded since Donald Trump’s administration started to take the government apart, particularly when it comes to Ocasio-Cortez and Booker. While Booker’s most recent notable draw of attention had been his record-breaking 25-hour speech on the House floor, Ocasio-Cortez has been ruling headlines because of her “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Taking on crowds numbering in the thousands at each stop, sharing their platform’s message on working-class economic justice and corporate accountability, some strategists are starting to see the young congresswoman stand out in a time where many voters are seeking clarity and bolder leadership from the Democratic party.
Robert Creamer, a Democratic strategist, speculated in a comment to Newsweek that the lack of clear direction and leadership within the party could give way to an opportunity in which a new generation of Democrats could rise up.
“There’s room now for a chorus of voices to stand up. And people want to see leaders fighting back,” Creamer stated.