If you’ve been following the early 2028 Democratic primary chatter, it looked for a while like Kamala Harris was the clear frontrunner. Poll after poll showed her far ahead of the pack with no serious competition in sight. Naturally, Team Kamala took that as a green light for another presidential run. But as I’ve been saying from the start, her early lead was never about enthusiasm; it was just name recognition. And now, the latest numbers prove it.
A new Echelon Insights poll shows the billion-dollar presidential failure’s support among Democratic voters has taken a significant hit, dropping 5 percentage points since March to 28%.
What’s even more telling is the sudden surge of Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). His phony little filibuster stunt, designed for headlines rather than results, actually managed to boost his profile. In just one month, he jumped from a forgettable 2% to a surprising 11%. Sure, 11% isn’t exactly a ticket to the nomination, but the leap is significant. And it proves exactly what I’ve been saying all along: Harris’s early lead was built on sand. All it took was one well-timed publicity stunt to start chipping away at her support.
The rest of the Democratic field isn't faring much better. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, once riding high at 10%, has slumped to 7%. And then there's California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who's practically fallen off a cliff, plummeting from 7% to just 4%. The only constant seems to be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, maintaining her 7% support despite her national tour with Bernie Sanders.
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Naturally, Harris still leads in head-to-head matchups. The poll shows 54% of Democrats would "definitely or probably" vote for her over Booker's 34%. But given the current state of her declining numbers, these stats should have Team Harris breaking into a cold sweat about her prospects going forward.
Just one month ago, only 34% of Democrats said they would "definitely or probably" support a different primary candidate. Now, with Booker's surge and Harris's decline, Kamala may need to face reality about how much political capital she actually has.
In the end, it’s hard to imagine the party getting excited about someone who spent over a billion dollars but failed to win a single swing state. The only thing Kamala had going for her was name recognition, and if publicity stunts from her potential 2028 rival can send her numbers down so significantly, then she needs to consider alternative career paths.
The whispers about Harris potentially pivoting to a California gubernatorial run are getting louder. But even that isn’t looking so good now. As my PJ Media colleague Robert Spencer reported on Tuesday, the prospect of a Kamala Harris gubernatorial run in California isn’t exactly getting a lot of excitement from California voters. Only 33% of California registered voters said they were “joyful” about Kamala Harris potentially running for governor.
Among “policy insiders” — including lawmakers and staffers — enthusiasm was even lower. Just 22% said they were “mostly excited,” while 20% were “irritated,” and 4% said they’d be “outraged” if she ran. The largest share, 36%, said they were simply “indifferent,” highlighting the overall lack of enthusiasm for a Harris gubernatorial bid even among the political class.
In short, Kamala’s political future may already be over.
