With four years to go to the next election, pollsters have already begun taking the temperature of voters to understand who they may prefer when the next presidential race comes around.
Emerson Polling conducted a survey between November 20 and 22, revealing that Vice President Kamala Harris is in the lead with 37 percent support among Democrats, California Governor Gavin Newsom has seven percent, while Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has the backing of four percent.
Senior Director of Emerson Polling Matt Taglia told Forbes that voters were not given pre-written options to choose from, but were instead asked to fill in a blank page with their choice. Others mentioned included Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Among the Republicans, Vice President-elect JD Vance has the support of 30 percent, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his fellow 2024 primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been chosen to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, alongside Elon Musk, were the only other two to receive more than five percent support.
“These are the folks who have the highest name ID, and they will probably walk in with a little bit of a push, depending on how things go over the next four years,” Taglia told Forbes. “The campaigns really are going to start soon. Pay attention to some of the names of this list and what they do over the next weeks, months, and next couple of years–how they position themselves during the midterms.”
Harris is reportedly considering a run for California governor at the end of Newsom’s second term in 2026 or running for the presidency again in 2028, with Politico reporting that the vice president has been telling aides and allies to keep her options open.
“I am staying in the fight,” Harris has repeatedly said.
Five people in Harris’s inner circle told the outlet that Harris is set to consider her options alongside her family over the winter holiday season.
A former campaign aide told Politico: “She doesn’t have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months.”
“The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships,” the aide added.
“There will be a desire to hear her voice, and there won’t be a vacuum for long,” one person close to the vice president told the outlet.
