A brand-new poll shows Kamala Harris leading the 2028 Democratic presidential primary field by double digits — because apparently losing to Donald Trump by a historic margin is now a qualifying credential for the left. The former Vice President sits at 27% support among Democratic voters, nearly doubling her nearest rival, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who limps in at 14%.
The party that spent four years telling us democracy was on the line just looked at the smoldering wreckage of 2024 and said, "Yeah, let's run that back."
The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from June 1-4, surveyed 1,013 Democrats with a margin of error of just 1.93%. Behind Harris and Newsom, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg pulled 11%, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez grabbed 8%, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker scraped together 2%, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear matched him at 2%. A full 17% said they were unsure — which honestly might be the smartest position any Democrat has taken in years.
But here's the part that should terrify Democrats if they were capable of honest self-reflection: Harris's numbers are in freefall. She polled at 33% back in October, slid to 31% by March, and now sits at 27%. That's a six-point nosedive while supposedly being the "frontrunner." Newsom's trajectory is even uglier — he cratered from 21% in the fall to his current 14%. The New York Post reported the numbers, and even they seemed amused by the spectacle.
Syracuse University political science professor Grant Davis Reeher threw cold water on the whole coronation. "I think it's still early enough that this result could be driven by name recognition, familiarity," Reeher told Newsweek. And when asked whether Harris leading was a good sign for Democrats, he didn't mince words: "No! There are lots of reasons for this, the first being that she lost to Trump in '24."
Ouch.
A separate Lake Research Partners poll from May 6-11 surveyed 800 Democratic primary voters and ran a ranked-choice simulation. Harris edged Newsom 52% to 48% — within the poll's 3.5% margin of error. So even in a fantasy scenario where Democrats whittle it down to two candidates, Harris can barely beat the guy who destroyed San Francisco.
Meanwhile, AOC is lurking in the background at 8%, telling anyone who'll listen that "my ambition is to change this country." Sure it is, congresswoman. And Harris herself told Rev. Al Sharpton she's "thinking about it" when asked about 2028. Thinking about running again after getting walloped. Bold strategy.
The Democratic bench is so thin you could read a newspaper through it. Their frontrunner is bleeding support by the month. Their second-place finisher governed over a state people are literally fleeing. Their rising star thinks socialism is a selling point in a general election. And 17% of their own voters looked at the entire field and said, "Nah."
We should be sending the DNC a thank-you card. If Democrats want to gift-wrap 2028 by nominating the same candidate who just got steamrolled, who are we to stop them? Run it back, Kamala. We dare you.