NEW: Initial 2028 Polls Spell Disaster For Democrats

A new series of polls, produced by Emerson College and released on Friday, reveals that Vice President J.D. Vance has a strong lead over almost every individual who could potentially enter the 2028 presidential election. His closest competitor is still behind him by a total of 30 points.

The presumptive frontrunner for the Democrats, former Vice President Kamala Harris, has dropped to the second slot in polling data, placing her behind yet another highly improbable Biden administration official.

When the data from the recent series of surveys is compared to a poll taken in November 2024, Vance has solidified his lead among Republicans, while Harris has dropped significantly on the Democratic side.

The survey, conducted between Tuesday and Wednesday and featuring 1,000 registered voters, showed Vance with a staggering 46-point lead in a hypothetical race against other GOP candidates. Coming in second was Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 12 percent.

None of the other candidates managed to reach double digits.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) came in third place with a total of 9 percent of the vote. Robert F. Kennedy, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, came up with 5 percent, while Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary, and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley tied at 2 percent.

“This marks an improvement for Vance from Emerson’s November poll exploring a hypothetical 2028 Republican primary. Vance led in that poll by a smaller amount, with 30 percent compared to 5 percent for DeSantis and 3 percent for 2024 GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy,” The Hill said.

“Emerson College Polling Executive Director Spencer Kimball said in a release that Vance has ‘solidified’ himself as the front-runner, noting he had support from 52 percent of male Republican voters and voters over 60 years old,” the article read.

On the Democratic Party side, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came in first place with 16 percent of the vote. Harris, the second-place choice, had 13 points. Right on her heels was Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) with 12 percent.

The bottom of the top five featured Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, both with 7 percent.

What shocked most folks about the data for Democrats was the 23 percent of undecided voters.

“The latest numbers are significantly different from Emerson’s November survey, when respondents were asked to write in their preferred 2028 candidate. Taken a couple weeks after the 2024 election, Harris received 37 percent support, followed by Newsom with 7 percent, Buttigieg with 4 percent and Shapiro with 3 percent. Another 35 percent were undecided,” The Hill reported.

A generic ballot had Republican and Democrat candidates in a stalemate at 42 percent. While you might think this means the GOP is in trouble, that’s not actually what the data means, given how the popular vote influences the electoral vote.

Experts say the previous election highlighted the Republican Party’s ability to win the Electoral College, so Democrats should still be highly concerned about their prospects in 2028.