Not this again.
Kamala Harris may have lost her battle against President Donald Trump, but the former vice president appears far from finished with presidential politics.
A new national poll shows Harris building a commanding early advantage among likely Democratic primary voters as speculation grows about who could lead the party into the 2028 presidential election.
According to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, Harris receives 37% support in a hypothetical 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
That puts her more than 20 percentage points ahead of her closest potential competitor and suggests that, at least for now, Democrats could be looking at another Kamala Harris presidential campaign.
For Trump supporters who thought the 2024 election had closed the book on Harris’ White House ambitions, the early numbers tell a different story.
Kamala Harris Takes Commanding 2028 Lead
Harris’ support has actually increased since Rasmussen’s previous survey.
She now stands at 37%, compared with 34% in May.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is a distant second with 14%, although his support has also increased slightly from 12%.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg receives 10%.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has moved in the opposite direction. Her support fell from 11% to 9%, putting her in a tie with Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro follows with 6%, while Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff receives 4% and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker stands at 2%.
Another 2% prefer a different candidate, while 7% remain undecided.
It is extremely early in the 2028 election cycle, and these numbers should not be treated as a prediction of who will ultimately win the Democratic nomination.
But Harris’ advantage is substantial enough to make her impossible to ignore.
Gavin Newsom Still Trails Harris By Wide Margin
Newsom has frequently attracted national attention as Democrats consider their political future, but the California governor has yet to come close to Harris in this survey.
His 14% showing leaves him 23 percentage points behind the former vice president.
That is a significant gap.
Newsom would have plenty of time to close it if he enters the race, but Harris begins with something most potential Democratic candidates cannot easily duplicate: near-universal national name recognition and experience running a presidential campaign.
She also spent four years as vice president and became the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024.
Those advantages could give Harris a formidable political organization if she chooses to seek the presidency again.
They do not, however, guarantee Democratic voters will give her another opportunity.
AOC Loses Ground With Democratic Voters
Another notable development involves Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The New York congresswoman has become one of the most recognizable figures on the progressive left and has long generated speculation about a possible future presidential campaign.
But her support declined in the latest Rasmussen numbers.
Ocasio-Cortez fell from 11% in May to 9%, leaving her far behind Harris and slightly behind Newsom and Buttigieg.
That decline comes as Democrats continue debating whether their best path back to the White House involves moving toward the political center or embracing the party’s progressive wing.
That debate is unlikely to disappear before 2028.
Democrats Face Growing Fight Over Party’s Direction
Recent developments in Michigan have added another dimension to that struggle.
Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won the Democratic Senate primary over Rep. Haley Stevens in a closely watched contest.
El-Sayed was supported by prominent progressive politicians including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez. Harris also backed him later in the campaign.
His campaign promoted policies associated with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, including Medicare for All and opposition to corporate money in politics.
El-Sayed will face Republican Mike Rogers in the November general election.
His primary victory could encourage Democrats who want the party to embrace a more progressive economic agenda.
At the presidential level, however, Rasmussen’s numbers currently point toward Harris rather than Ocasio-Cortez.
That could set up a larger battle over what Democrats want their party to become after the Trump era.
Harris Has a Major Problem With Older Democrats
Perhaps the most surprising finding in the poll is the enormous difference between younger and older Democratic voters.
Harris receives 53% support among likely Democratic primary voters under age 40.
Among those age 65 and older, her support drops to just 10%.
That is a remarkable 43-point age gap.
It could become particularly important during an actual presidential primary because older Americans have historically been an important voting bloc.
If Harris launches another White House campaign, winning over more older Democrats could become one of her biggest challenges.
The numbers also suggest that the Democratic Party’s different generations may have dramatically different ideas about who should lead them in 2028.
Harris Performs Better With Minority Voters
Harris also shows significant differences in support based on race.
According to Rasmussen, she performs particularly well among Black voters and other minority voters.
Among White Democratic primary voters, Harris receives 23%.
Newsom comes in at 15%, followed by Buttigieg at 13% and Ocasio-Cortez at 11%.
That gives Harris the lead with White Democratic voters as well, but by a considerably smaller margin than she holds among some other demographic groups.
Building a coalition across those different groups would be essential in another presidential campaign.
Many 2024 Harris Voters Are Looking Elsewhere
There is another number that could give Harris reason for caution.
Rasmussen found that 85% of likely 2028 Democratic primary voters who supported Harris in the 2024 presidential election expect to participate in the Democratic primaries.
However, only 43% of those voters currently plan to support Harris for the nomination.
That means a significant share of people who previously voted for Harris are already considering someone else.
It is an important reminder that leading an early poll and securing a presidential nomination are two very different things.
Harris has the advantage today.
She does not have the nomination locked up.
Could Trump And Harris Shape Another Presidential Election?
Donald Trump would not be eligible to seek another elected presidential term in 2028 under the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, which limits a person to being elected president twice.
But Trump’s influence over the Republican Party could still play an enormous role in determining the political environment Democrats face.
That makes Harris’ early strength particularly interesting.
A 2028 Harris campaign could once again place many of the arguments and political divisions of the Trump-Harris era at the center of American politics, even with a different Republican nominee on the ballot.
Republicans would likely focus heavily on Harris’ record as vice president, her role in the Biden administration and the policies she promoted during her previous presidential campaign.
Democrats, meanwhile, would have to decide whether Harris represents their strongest path back to the White House or whether the party needs a new generation of leadership.
2028 Democratic Primary Is Far From Settled
There is one major caution surrounding all of these numbers: the 2028 presidential election is still more than two years away.
Presidential politics can change dramatically in that amount of time.
Some of the politicians included in today’s hypothetical polls may never become candidates. Others who receive little attention today could emerge as serious contenders.
Economic conditions, foreign policy, immigration, crime, inflation and the performance of both parties in the 2026 midterm elections could all influence what Democratic voters ultimately decide.
Harris nevertheless enters the early conversation with one enormous advantage.
Everyone already knows who she is.
And according to Rasmussen, she currently commands considerably more support than any of the other Democrats being discussed for 2028.
Kamala Harris Could Be Preparing For Another Political Comeback
The biggest question now is whether Harris actually decides to make another run for the White House.
If she does, she could enter the Democratic presidential primary as the candidate everyone else must beat.
Her 37% showing gives her a considerable early advantage over Newsom, Buttigieg, Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the potential field.
But the underlying numbers reveal vulnerabilities as well.
Harris has relatively weak support among Democrats age 65 and older, and many people who voted for her in 2024 are not currently committed to supporting her for the 2028 nomination.
That creates an opening for another Democrat.
Newsom could attempt to consolidate establishment voters. Buttigieg could try to rebuild his national coalition. Ocasio-Cortez or another progressive candidate could attempt to move the party further left.
Or an entirely different candidate could emerge.
For Republicans, however, one message from this early polling is already clear:
Kamala Harris has not disappeared.
More than two years before the next presidential election, the former vice president is sitting comfortably atop one early Democratic primary poll — and another Harris campaign for the White House remains very much a possibility.
Poll methodology: Rasmussen Reports surveyed 1,222 likely U.S. voters from Aug. 2-4. The survey reported a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. After screening respondents based on their likelihood of participating in the 2028 presidential primaries and which party’s contest they would enter, Rasmussen identified 504 likely Democratic primary voters.