Politico Poll: Democrats Don't Know Who Their Leader Is

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Democrats still don’t have a leader to guide them out of the wilderness.

Seismic victories in a series of off-cycle elections on Tuesday showed the power of an energized liberal base all across the country — and teased at the potential for the Democratic Party to storm back to power. But those wins did not immediately crown a singular leader who can harness that energy.

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The top response was “I don’t know,” or some similar variation. It made up over one-fifth (21 percent) of responses. “Nobody” garnered an additional 11 percent.

Harris, the former vice president, was the highest person on the list and the only one in double-digits. But she was still named as the party leader by only 16 percent of the people who voted for her last year — a relatively small number given she is the party’s most recent presidential nominee, has made headlines with her book promotion and is considered a potential 2028 contender.

The rest of the top choices spanned an array of party stalwarts, including congressional leaders and former presidents. Few of them are widely considered to be among the 2028 contenders except Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was named by just 6 percent of Harris 2024 voters as the current party leader.

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Don't know 21.0%
Kamala Harris 16.1%
Nobody 10.5%
Chuck Schumer 7.7%
Hakeem Jeffries 7.4%
Barack Obama 7.4%
Gavin Newsom 6.2%
Joe Biden 4.4%
General answer 2.9%
Ken Martin 2.2%
Other name or unclear name 2.1%
Bernie Sanders 1.9%
Hillary Clinton 1.2%
AOC 1.1%
Jasmine Crockett 0.8%
Donald Trump 0.8%
Nancy Pelosi 0.5%
Corey Booker 0.5%
Tim Walz 0.4%
Josh Shapiro 0.4%
Pete Buttigieg 0.3%
Zohran Mamdani 0.3%
JB Pritzker 0.1%
Mitch McConnell 0.1%
Seth Moulton 0.1%
Elizabeth Warren 0.1%
Mike Johnson 0.1%
Michelle Obama 0.1%
Wes Moore 0.1%

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