California voters are resoundingly rejecting former Vice President Kamala Harris as a possible 2028 presidential contender — while Gov. Gavin Newsom faces an uphill battle, according to a new poll.
Harris trailed behind Newsom, as well as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, with just 9% of voters in her home state saying she would be their first choice for the Democratic nominee, according to a poll released Friday by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.
Newsom leads the pack with 28% of voters choosing him as their top choice; however, receiving support from only roughly a quarter of those in the Golden State is worrying, Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, told the Los Angeles Times.
The poll also shows that less than half of Californians (48%) approve of the job Newsom is doing as governor.
That marks a drop from 51% approval in August, DiCamillo said. Newsom’s disapproval rating also climbed by 5 percentage points.
The poll was conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and surveyed 5,019 California registered voters online in English and Spanish from March 9 to 14.
The poll had a margin of error of plus/minus of 2.5 percentage points within the overall sample.
Newsom has never run against Harris in a statewide race, but could face her in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
The gap between the two Golden State political darlings widens when second-choice voters are also considered: Newsom draws 42% from both classes of voters, while Harris draws just 20%.
Neither candidate has made their presidential plans concrete. Newsom will step down as the state’s governor after the 2026 election, and Harris is currently on her “107 Days” book tour.
The poll is the latest sign Democrats are ready to move on from Harris, who lost decisively to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. She’s blamed her lack of time to campaign for losing to Trump.
This is despite California voters being very familiar with Harris, who once served two terms as California’s Attorney General and for four years as a US Senator.
Newsom also interestingly dominated Harris with African Americans, beating her by 12 points, 49% to 37%. He drew his strongest support from older, Latino and male voters.
IGS’ co-director, G. Cristina Mora, said Newsom’s more aggressive stance on Trump is paying off.
“The results seem to suggest that Newsom’s more aggressive stance vis-à-vis President Trump, particularly through social media, appears to be resonating with Democratic voters in his home state,” she said.
“Though Californians may hold mixed views on his gubernatorial tenure overall, they do see him as the strongest counter to Trump and MAGA candidates.”
She said Harris’ poll result was because of her presidential defeat and “biases against women and candidates of color.”
“Harris’s earlier presidential defeat, compounded by what appear to be persistent voter
biases against women and candidates of color, may also be shaping these early numbers,” Mora concluded.
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