Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary under President Joe Biden, leads a crowded potential field in an early 2028 Democratic presidential primary poll.
If the primary election were held today in New Hampshire, Buttigieg would top the field with 19%, according to The Granite State Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire.
Trailing Buttigieg were California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 15%, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., at 14%, former Vice President Kamala Harris at 11%, independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 8% and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at 6%.
No other potential candidate polled above 5% with likely Democratic primary voters.
Buttigieg also proved to be the most popular potential 2028 Democratic primary contender, the poll found.
The former transportation secretary had an 81% favorable rating among likely Democratic primary voters.
Sanders had the second highest rating at 72%, followed by Ocasio-Cortez at 66%, Newsom at 58% and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker at 53%.
No other potential candidate had a favorable rating above 50%.
The 2028 Democratic presidential primary race has yet to take shape. No one has announced a campaign yet.
New Hampshire traditionally holds the first primary election.
But in 2022, then-President Joe Biden directed the Democratic National Committee to reorder its presidential primary calendar to better empower voters of color, who make up the party’s most loyal base.
The committee installed South Carolina’s primary first for 2024 and pushed back Iowa, where a caucus had leadoff since 1972, and New Hampshire, which had held the contest’s first primary for more than a century.
New Hampshire rebelled and in January 2024 held a primary not sanctioned by the national party, and the DNC threatened the state with sanctions, including that its delegates wouldn’t be seated at the national convention in Chicago starting Aug. 19.
The DNC ultimately backed off on the sanctions threat after New Hampshire held a “party-run delegate selection primary” in April 2024.
On the Republican side, Vice President JD Vance has a commanding lead among possible 2028 GOP contenders.
Vance tops the field with 51%, followed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 9%, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at 8% and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 5%.
The Granite State Poll did not ask possible GOP primary voters if they would cast a ballot for President Donald Trump, who is constitutionally barred from running for a third term but has claimed he is “allowed” to be president again.
However, Trump said he would not act on one possible theory — running as vice president with Vance at the top of the ticket and then Vance resigning after being inaugurated in 2029.
“Yeah, I’d be allowed to do that. But I wouldn’t do that. I think it’s too cute. Yeah, I’d rule that out because it’s too cute. I think people wouldn’t like that. It’s too cute. It wouldn’t be right,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday en route to Japan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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