Democrats are already eagerly eyeing the 2028 presidential race after they walloped Republicans during the midterms, and one name has surfaced as the party’s potential standard-bearer. And it’s not Kamala Harris.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris received just six votes in a leftist gathering’s 2028 Democratic presidential straw poll as Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff overwhelmingly finished first.
The informal survey was conducted Saturday among attendees at Crooked Con, a Washington gathering hosted by the liberal Crooked Media organization.
Ossoff received 380 of the 990 votes cast, giving him 38.4% support and putting him more than 20 percentage points ahead of his nearest competitor.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York finished second with 16.6%, while former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg placed third with 13.9%.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro each received roughly 4%.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore followed with approximately 3% apiece, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom received just over 2%.
Harris finished far further down the list.
The former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee received six votes, or 0.6%, tying her for 16th place with Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
Harris even finished behind several Democrats who have attracted considerably less national presidential speculation, including Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Chris Murphy.
The results represent only the preferences of attendees at one progressive political convention and are not a scientific or nationally representative poll of Democratic voters.
They nevertheless attracted attention because Harris has remained near the top of broader national polling of potential 2028 Democratic candidates.
The latest RealClearPolitics polling average has Harris at 21.8% among Democrats nationally, followed by Buttigieg at 14%, Newsom at 13.5%, Ocasio-Cortez at 12.5% and Ossoff at 10.8%.
That makes the Crooked Con results dramatically different from the broader surveys conducted before Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Ossoff’s showing comes only days after the Georgia Democrat easily secured another six-year Senate term.
Ossoff defeated Republican Rep. Mike Collins by approximately 18 percentage points Tuesday, substantially outperforming expectations in a state President Donald Trump carried in 2024.
The victory immediately intensified speculation about whether the 39-year-old senator could emerge as a national Democratic figure ahead of 2028.
Political analyst Nate Silver added to that speculation during the convention, describing Ossoff as the current “slam dunk” top Democratic contender.
“He seems like the uniformly ‘compromise candidate’ between the progressive and the more centrist factions of the party,” Silver said.
“And he seems very talented.”
Ossoff himself has repeatedly rejected presidential speculation.
“I have zero interest in running for president in 2028, and frankly zero interest in the 2028 fantasy football right now,” Ossoff said in August.
His second Senate term runs through 2032, meaning he would not need to surrender his seat merely to campaign for president.
The Georgia political landscape also changed significantly Tuesday when Democrats won the governor’s race, potentially reducing concerns about who would appoint a replacement if Ossoff eventually left the Senate.
Harris, meanwhile, has not announced whether she intends to seek the presidency again.
She replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in 2024 before losing the general election to Trump.
Harris has maintained a national profile since leaving office through public appearances, speeches and her book tour.
Her potential candidacy has also faced questions from within her own political orbit.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, has privately indicated that he would prefer she not undertake another presidential campaign, although people close to him expect he would support her if she runs.
The Crooked Con survey also demonstrated that progressive activists have not coalesced around one ideological faction.
Ossoff has generally positioned himself differently from Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing.
He has opposed Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, expanding the Supreme Court and the Green New Deal.
Yet Ossoff still overwhelmingly outperformed Ocasio-Cortez among attendees at the left-wing gathering.
