Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg has emerged as an early Democratic front-runner in New Hampshire’s 2028 presidential primary, edging California Governor Gavin Newsom in a new poll this week from the University of New Hampshire.
Nineteen percent of New Hampshire voters who answered the poll said they would support Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020 and was appointed to former president Joe Biden’s administration.
Newsom came in second with 15 percent, ahead of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York with 14 percent, and former vice president and 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris with 11 percent. Harris recently said in an interview she will “possibly” run for president again in 2028.
Buttigieg placed second in the 2020 New Hampshire primary, falling just a point short of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by a margin of less than 4,000 votes. Biden was fifth in that contest but went on to win the nomination and the presidency.
On the Republican side, New Hampshire voters showed strong support for Vice President JD Vance with 51 percent, well ahead of Nikki Haley in second with 9 percent.
Democrats in New Hampshire are pushing to keep their long held first-in-the-nation primary election status.
In the 2024 election cycle, then-president Biden and the Democratic National Committee snubbed New Hampshire by recognizing South Carolina’s primary as the first party-approved nominating contest.
Proponents said the change would elevate the voices of Black voters to better reflect the nation’s diversity. But the break from tradition also gave Biden a smoother path to the nomination, allowing him to skip over New Hampshire and instead start with South Carolina, where a first-place finish solidified his front-runner status.
New Hampshire went ahead and held its state-run Democratic primary in January 2024 against the DNC’s wishes. Biden won the contest thanks to a write-in campaign, and the DNC ultimately allowed New Hampshire’s delegates to join in Biden’s nomination at the party’s national convention that August.
Biden bowed out of the race the following month after a disastrous televised debate with then candidate Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in but lost the general election in November.
Material from previous Globe coverage was used in this report.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
