Former Vice President Kamala Harris finished near the bottom of a progressive convention straw poll for the 2028 Democratic nomination, as activists elevated Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff instead.
Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia topped a 2028 Democratic nomination straw poll at the Crooked Con progressive convention this weekend with 38% support, while Harris managed just 0.6% and tied for 16th.
About 1,000 votes were cast. The exercise was not a scientific survey. It still offered a clear snapshot of what some of the party’s most plugged-in progressive voters want next.
New York Post reporting put Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York in second at 17% and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 14%. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro each drew 4%. Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Wes Moore of Maryland sat at 3%. California Gov. Gavin Newsom landed at 2.3%.
Harris tied first-term Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin at the back of the named field.
Crooked Con is the left-leaning gathering put together by Crooked Media, a group founded by Obama administration alumni. The weekend featured discussions from prominent liberal figures about the future of the Democratic Party. The straw poll was their informal verdict on 2028.
Ossoff’s win stands out because he has already told voters he is not running for president. Last month, in a debate exchange, he was asked whether he would serve a full Senate term.
Ossoff answered directly:
"Yes, I will."
He added:
"I have zero interest in running for president. I’m running for Senate."
He had just held his Georgia seat against Republican Rep. Mike Collins. The Peach State Democrat has also opposed Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, calls to abolish ICE, and efforts to expand the Supreme Court. Progressive activists still put him first.
The Crooked Con result clashes with broader early polling. Harris had led by double digits in nearly every 2028 Democratic primary survey before the election. The latest RealClearPolitics aggregate still has her out front at 21.8%. Newsom sits at 13.5%. Ossoff ranks fifth at 10.8%.
That gap matters. National primary averages still treat Harris as the default. The activists who showed up at Crooked Con treated her as an afterthought. AOC and Buttigieg, both fixtures of the party’s progressive brand, outpaced governors and senators who often get described as safer general-election bets. Newsom, long paired with Harris atop early trial heats, barely cracked 2% in the room that actually voted.
Straw polls at ideological conventions do not pick nominees. They do reveal who the loudest organized factions are willing to cheer. In this case, they cheered a Georgia senator who rejects signature left-wing demands and says he is not running. They gave almost nothing to the party’s most recent national ticket leader.
Ossoff’s stated refusal makes the result sharper, not softer. Voters in the hall could have coalesced around Ocasio-Cortez, Buttigieg, Newsom, or any governor already testing national themes. They chose the senator who insists his focus is Georgia and a full six-year term.
Harris’s 0.6% finish, tied for 16th with Slotkin, lands against her own recent polling dominance. The same progressive circuit that once treated her as inevitable now ranks her behind a long list of alternatives. The convention did not explain the collapse in a single quote. The numbers did the talking.
Crooked Media built the forum. Obama-era alumni shaped the guest list. Roughly a thousand ballots produced a ranking that put Ossoff first, the Squad’s best-known House member second, and the former vice president near the floor.
For a party still sorting its post-2024 identity, that is the signal the activists sent.
When the most organized progressive room in the field buries the last ticket’s leader and crowns a senator who rejects their biggest policy demands, the party’s 2028 problem is not a lack of names, it is a base that no longer trusts the ones it already tried.
