A new CNN/ORC poll reveals that Democratic insiders, as well as voters, have set their sights on the next presidential contest, and it includes potential contenders for 2020 and 2021.
In a field of multiple possible candidates, according to the poll, the two top potential candidates who could be named at the last moment in 2024 are Senator Kamala Harris and Michelle Obama.
Harris, a California senator, is given just over 9% of the voters who have already indicated interest in Democratic candidates in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump in 2024, a sign that she could be considered as a late entry candidate.
The first lady received just over 6% of those voters who have yet to make a definitive decision on a presidential contender, potentially indicating that Obama could make a final 2020 decision when Clinton was enjoying high poll numbers and cash on hand.
Voters in the poll gave Clinton and Obama’s potential successors far less support. Former Vice President Joe Biden is given just over 2% of the voters who have expressed interest in supporting a 2020 candidate, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gets just over 1% of those who have made a late 2019 decision.
Poll respondents had not yet seen Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has been mentioned in Democratic circles, as a possible contender for 2020.
According to the poll, 69% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they think Biden should run for president in 2020. Asked which presidential candidate they think is most likely to run in 2024, 21% of Democrats picked Biden, with 12% naming former Vice President Al Gore and 10% choosing Sanders.
Just 7% of Democrats think that another African-American presidential candidate is likely to enter the race in 2024. Most voters, 68%, believe a woman or minority will be the next Democrat to compete for the White House in 2024.
In the April CNN poll, Biden had a net favorable rating among Democrats, leading Sanders by 6 points, 24% to 18%, with 47% undecided. In the June CNN poll, Biden led Sanders by a point, again, with 48% of Democratic voters responding with a favorable rating compared to 46% with an unfavorable view.
CNN’s VoteCast survey asked voters in 2020 what race they wanted to see in the next presidential election. As in past election cycles, fewer than half of the voters in this year’s election are unwilling to grant that the next president will be black, just under three-quarters of respondents said they wanted a woman, and a slim majority of voters said they want a person of color in the Oval Office.
Among those Americans who said they thought it would be important for a president to be a person of color, 61% said they thought it would be important if that person were a black person. Just 37% said they thought a black person would be important if that person were a woman.