Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) leads among young Democratic voters in a hypothetical 2028 presidential primary, according to a new survey.
The Yale Youth Poll, released on Monday, shows Ocasio-Cortez with a double-digit lead over former Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other potential contenders when Democrats under 35 are asked which hypothetical candidate they would support if the 2028 primary were held today.
Among registered Democrats ages 18-22, 30 percent would back Ocasio-Cortez, 20 percent would support Harris and 12 percent would vote for Newsom.
Among Democrats ages 23-29, a whopping 35 percent would back Ocasio-Cortez, while 15 percent would support Harris and 14 percent would go fo…
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) leads among young Democratic voters in a hypothetical 2028 presidential primary, according to a new survey.
The Yale Youth Poll, released on Monday, shows Ocasio-Cortez with a double-digit lead over former Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other potential contenders when Democrats under 35 are asked which hypothetical candidate they would support if the 2028 primary were held today.
Among registered Democrats ages 18-22, 30 percent would back Ocasio-Cortez, 20 percent would support Harris and 12 percent would vote for Newsom.
Among Democrats ages 23-29, a whopping 35 percent would back Ocasio-Cortez, while 15 percent would support Harris and 14 percent would go for Newsom.
And among 30-34-year-old Democratic voters, 29 percent would support Ocasio-Cortez, while 15 percent would back Newsom and 14 percent would go for Harris.
The New York congresswoman’s support begins to wane among older Democrats, with middle-aged voters favoring Harris and seniors favoring Newsom. Among older age groups, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttifieg finds more support than Ocasio-Cortez.
Thirty percent of Democrats ages 35-44 favor Harris, while 25 percent like Ocasio-Cortez, 16 percent would vote for Newsom and 8 percent would back Buttigieg. Buttigieg’s support from Democrats ages 35 and below ranges from 8 percent to 12 percent.
Democrats ages 45-64 are more divided: 23 percent favor Harris, 22 percent support Newsom, 15 percent go for Buttigieg, and 11 percent would back Ocasio-Cortez.
Democrats 65 and over, however, go for Newsom, with 38 percent saying they would back the governor in a primary if it were held today. Another 18 percent would back Buttigieg, 11 percent like Harris, 6 percent would support Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), and 5 percent would support Ocasio-Cortez.
Across all demographics, seniors propel Newsom to the top of Democrats’ preferred list of candidate, with 25 percent of Democratic voters overall backing the California governor, 18 percent supporting Harris, 16 percent backing Ocasio-Cortez, 14 percent supporting Buttigieg and 4 percent supporting Shapiro.
The latest poll comes amid speculation among Democrats, who lack an obvious leader to put forward as a candidate to lead the party in the next presidential election.
With the election still years away, no candidate has formally launched a campaign. But several have fueled speculation of a possible bid. Newsom said in late October that he’d “be lying” if he said he wasn’t thinking about running for president in 2028.
Harris, who lost her 2024 White House bid to President Trump, similarly hinted at a comeback bid in 2028, telling the BBC, “I am not done,” and that she could “possibly” still be president one day.
The survey was conducted from Oct. 29 to Nov. 11 and included 3,426 registered voters, including 1,706 under 35 years old. The margin of error is 1.7 percentage points overall and 2.4 percentage points for younger Americans.
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