Democratic governor Gavin Newsom is leading JD Vance among young male voters, according to a new poll over a hypothetical 2028 presidential battle.
Republican pollster League of American Workers/TIPP found the Californian governor is making headway with young men, following the demographic’s well-documented support for President Donald Trump in 2024.
It comes after rumors that Vice President Vance is the GOP faithful’s chosen successor to Trump to run for the top job in 2028. When asked about his possible successors on Air Force One in late October, Trump named Vance for the presidency and Marco Rubio for his VP, describing the slate as “unstoppable”.
But according to the poll, young male voters would prefer Trump’s outspoken critic, Newsom, to occupy the White House.
TIPP surveyed 2,100 registered US voters aged 18-25 between October 22 and 28. When participants were asked whether they would vote for Newsom or Vance if the 2028 presidential election were held today, 38 percent picked Newsom, 33 percent chose Vance, 15 percent said someone else, and 15 percent were undecided.
The governor previously told reporters he’d be “lying” if he said he wasn’t going to consider running for president after the 2026 midterm elections.
“The idea that you’d even throw that [possibility] out is in and of itself extraordinary. Who the hell knows. I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028, and who meets that moment,” Newsom told CBS’s Robert Costa of running for president in 2028, before being pressed on whether he’d consider it after next year.
“Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise. I’d just be lying. And I can’t do that.”
He has clashed with Trump publicly on several issues - including a court battle over the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles to protect ICE agents performing immigration raids and facilities housing detainees and personnel.
He previously said his team was “Trump-proofing California”, working to oppose whatever hostile White House measures they could.
More recently, Newsom criticized Trump as the primary obstacle preventing the reopening of the government during the shutdown, which has resulted in government services being suspended for 41 days.
“He went golfing that weekend before the shutdown...He had no interest or energy in avoiding this government shutdown,” he said. “He has no interest or energy to end it today; he’s the president of the United States!
“You have a responsibility to convene, to bring people together...full stop.”
