U.S. Voters Name Rarely-Recognized Contenders for 2028 White House Race
By Alex Chen | Monday, 22 December 2025
A recent poll released Sunday shows that Vice President JD Vance and California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom lead a wide-open field in their party’s respective primaries for the 2028 presidential ballot.
Although roughly half of Americans say they have already given the next presidential election at least some thought, about two-thirds haven’t gotten so far as to have any possible candidates in mind yet. Those who do have a candidate in mind named 65 different people they would like to see make a run for the presidency. Most of these potential candidates were mentioned by less than 1% of respondents.
The next presidential race is set to be the first since 2016 without a sitting president vying for the nomination on either side. Among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, 22% named Vance, 4% named Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and 2% named Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Another 3% expressed interest in former President Donald Trump making another run for the White House, despite being barred by the two-term limit established by the 22nd Amendment.
Among Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents, 11% named Newsom, 5% named former Vice President Kamala Harris, 4% named New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and 2% named former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Two percent indicated they would like former President Barack Obama to make another run, though he is also barred by the 22nd Amendment.
When asked what attracts them to their chosen candidate or what traits they seek in a president, personal qualities dominated the responses for both groups. Fewer respondents prioritized specific policy positions or ideological alignment. The top attributes cited included honesty, compassion, empathy, a desire to help people, and integrity, values, and ethics.
Americans who have a candidate in mind are fairly evenly split between those considering a more Republican or conservative potential candidate (16%) and a Democrat or liberal-leaning one (14%).
The poll was conducted December 4-7 among 1,032 American adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
