WASHINGTON — GOP Vice President JD Vance and Democratic ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are the leading candidates for their parties’ primary nods in the 2028 presidential race, a new poll shows.
In a hypothetical Republican presidential primary fight, Vance leads the pack with 46% support, followed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 12%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 9% and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 5%, according to the Emerson College survey.
Buttigieg, meanwhile, is narrowly leading former Vice President Kamala Harris, 16% to 13%, in a hypothetical Democratic presidential primary, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (12%), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (7%) and “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (7%) close behind, the poll says.
At least 23% of Democratic primary voters surveyed said they were still undecided.
While there’s still plenty of jockeying for position possible in the Dem primary contest, Vance has “solidified” his position as the GOP presidential front-runner, according to Emerson College Polling executive director Spencer Kimball.
Since the last Emerson survey in November, Vance surged in favorability among GOP primary voters.
But Harris has bled support after registering 37% backing from Dem primary voters in that post-election Emerson poll.
It’s unclear whether the Democratic former California senator is eyeing a run for governor of the Golden State in 2026 — before making a final decision on a second run for the presidency.
After her landslide defeat by President Trump in November, Harris declared that it was “not in my nature to go quietly into the night,” but has yet to publicly indicate whether she’ll run for either office.
The survey also revealed that Trump’s approval rating just dipped underwater, with 46% disapproving of the job he’s doing and 45% supporting him.
The president has stopped short of calling Vance, 40, his successor since announcing the “Hillbilly Elegy” author and US senator from Ohio as his running mate at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Trump instead still reserved some praise for Rubio, 53, last month.
“You look at Marco, you look at JD Vance, who’s fantastic,” he told NBC News’ Kristin Welker during an interview on “Meet the Press” after being asked about what the future of his Make America Great Again movement would be.
A JL Partners poll in May also found Vance out in front in the Republican presidential primary race with 46% support from registered voters.
The latest Emerson College survey further showed Republicans and Democrats equally split at 42% support among US voters on the generic congressional ballot.
It was conducted June 24-25 with 1,000 registered voters surveyed. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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