Democratic rising star ‘hottie’ Jon Ossoff close to overtaking Kamala in new 2028 poll but half of Americans don’t know who he is
Democratic Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff comes close to overtaking the party’s former nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the latest survey of 2028 presidential preferences.
The 39-year-old, dubbed a ‘hottie’ online during his Senate reelection race this year, has attracted support from 15 percent of Democratic primary voters, according to a poll released Friday by The Economist and YouGov.
That puts Ossoff in second place in a crowded field, trailing only Harris, who received 20 percent support.
That figure also comes as a majority of his party’s voters don’t know who he is.
When voters were asked if they had a favorable or unfavorable view of Ossoff, a whopping 55 percent said they didn’t know.
Eighteen percent viewed him very favorably, while 10 percent held a very unfavorable view of the Georgia Democrat who was first elected to the Senate in 2021.
If Ossoff decides to flip-flop on a pledge he made to serve his full Senate term and run for President in 2028, he’ll need to push up his name recognition quickly.
In mid-October, the Democrat said: ‘I have zero interest in running for President.’
Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff is just points behind the 2024 Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in a new 2028 presidential preference poll. The 39-year-old Georgian was dubbed a ‘hottie’ during his reelection run this year
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee, continues to lead the pack for 2028 presidential preference, though 50 percent of Democratic voters held an unfavorable view of her
‘I’m not running for President. I’m running for reelection to the Senate,’ he added.
Voters didn’t listen – another early 2028 poll, conducted by Atlas Intel between October 31 and November 1, showed that Ossoff and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were tied for first place.
Ossoff easily beat his Republican rival, Representative Mike Collins, in what was supposed to be a tight Senate race last week.
Other top-tier 2028 Democratic candidates included former California Governor Gavin Newsom at 13 percent, Ocasio-Cortez at 12 percent and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 10 percent.
Buttigieg announced he had written a book this week, which will be released in January, which is often a tell that a politician plans to jump in the White House race.
Of the 14 Democrats pollsters asked about – including some far-fetched candidates like 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is ineligible to run – no other candidate was in the double digits.
Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff is photographed speaking at a rally on the eve of Election Day. Ossoff was supposed to have a tough reelection fight, but sailed to victory amid last week’s bluenami
Democratic Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff is an unknown to more than half of 2028 Democratic primary voters, though is still in second place among voter preferences
Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff told Georgia voters in mid-October that he wasn’t running for President in 2028. Voters didn’t listen as he topped the next 2028 presidential preference poll, tying with AOC
Mid-tier Democrats included Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, at 4 percent, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, all at 3 percent.
Harris was viewed the most unfavorably by members of her party.
Overall, 50 percent viewed her unfavorably, with 12 percent viewing her somewhat unfavorably and 38 percent saying they viewed her very unfavorably.
On the flip side, 19 percent viewed the former nominee very favorably, while 22 percent said they viewed Harris somewhat favorably.
The Economist/YouGov survey was conducted among 1,685 US citizens from November 9 to 11.
It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
