A new survey suggests that more Americans believe businessman Mark Cuban would have a better chance of defeating a Republican candidate in the 2028 presidential election than Kamala Harris, though several other Democrats are seen as even stronger contenders.
The Yale Polling survey found that 58% of respondents said Cuban would likely prevail in a general election matchup, compared to 55% who said Harris would.
Among all potential candidates tested, California Gov. Gavin Newsom received the highest level of confidence, with 72% of respondents saying he could win. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly followed at 70%, while Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker each garnered 64%. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came next with 61%.
The poll also highlighted generational divides within the Democratic Party. Voters aged 18 to 34 showed stronger support for Harris, with 61% favoring her in a hypothetical primary, and 47% backing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Older Democrats, by contrast, leaned toward Newsom at 28% and Buttigieg at 19%.
Earlier this month, Harris indicated she may consider entering the 2028 race, saying she was “thinking about” a potential campaign.
Newsom is already widely viewed as a leading possible candidate and has taken on a visible role in opposing President Donald Trump.
Cuban, however, has made clear he has no current intention of running unless circumstances change dramatically.
“I’m not going to do it,” Cuban said. “I’ve said the only way I would do it is if Trump tried to run for a third term. Because then that’s just changing everything, right? And that’s a true threat.”
“But other than that, I’m not going to put my family through that, you know?” Cuban added, noting that his three children are between the ages of 15 and 21.
“When I’m 95 and taking — or 105 and taking — my last breaths, right? I don’t want to say, Well, gee, I ran for president. Maybe won, maybe didn’t,” he said.
The Yale Youth Poll was conducted online between March 9 and March 23, sampling 3,429 registered voters, including an oversample of 2,008 respondents under the age of 35.
The margin of error is plus or minus 1.4 percentage points for the full sample and 2.0 percentage points for the younger cohort.