Sen. Cory Booker‘s (D-NJ) marathon Senate speech may have aided aspirations of a higher office in three years, according to a new poll.
The New Jersey senator, who unsuccessfully ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, delivered a record-breaking 25-hour speech on the Senate floor earlier this month protesting President Donald Trump and his administration. The moment caused Booker’s star to rise among Democratic circles inside the beltway, at a time when Democrats are searching for a leader to guide them through Trump’s second term.
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In a new poll of likely Democratic Party primary voters conducted by liberal outlet Zeteo and left-wing pollster Data for Progress, Booker is tied for the third most popular pick in a hypothetical 2028 field with 12%.
Voters in the survey said former Vice President Kamala Harris was their top choice with 18%, followed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg with 14%, while Booker and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are tied with 12% each. Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Josh Shapiro (D-PA) round out the top six, with 8% and 5%, respectively.
In a hypothetical primary without Harris, Buttigieg leads the field with 17%, followed by Booker and Ocasio-Cortez with 14% each, and Newsom with 10%.
While Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has attempted to promote himself as a Democratic leader against Trump, he only received 1% support in the surveys with and without Harris. Murphy has made a lot of noise, like Booker, and raised $8 million in the first quarter of 2025 despite not being up for reelection to his Senate seat until 2030.
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Splashy potential celebrity candidates also fell flat in the full-field survey, with Jon Stewart receiving 2%, Mark Cuban getting 2%, and Stephen A. Smith receiving less than half a percentage point of support. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain also received less than half a percentage point in the full-field poll.
While Harris is viewed as the early leader for the 2028 Democratic primary, she is also reportedly considering a gubernatorial run in California in 2026. A poll from Emerson College-Inside California Politics-The Hill released Thursday shows the former vice president leading a hypothetical open primary for the governor’s office in the Golden State by a wide margin.