Republican pollster Jim McLaughlin said Friday on Newsmax that the Democratic Party's potential 2028 presidential candidates are burdened by records of failure, even as a new national survey showed Democrats holding an early advantage ahead of the midterm elections.

McLaughlin, a pollster for President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, made the comments on "Wake Up America" while discussing an Emerson College Polling Center survey that placed former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at the front of a still-undeclared Democrat presidential field.

"When you look at the Democrats, every single one of them — whether it's Pete Buttigieg, whether it's [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom, whether it's [former Vice President] Kamala Harris — I'll pay their filing fees," McLaughlin said. "Talk about a bunch of failures."

The Emerson College poll, released Thursday, found Buttigieg supported by 19% of Democrat voters, followed by Newsom at 17%.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., were tied at 13%, while former Vice President Kamala Harris received 8% of respondent support.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear drew 7%, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro received 5%, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker had 3%, while 13% of Democrat voters remained undecided.

McLaughlin argued that Democrats would struggle to point to successful governing records in major cities and states as prospective candidates begin positioning themselves for the next presidential campaign.

"And that's the big problem the Democrats have," McLaughlin said. "They can't point to any of their big state governments or big, big city mayors and say, 'Hey, they're doing a really good job,' because they've all been a disaster."

"I mean, it's looking really good for the Republicans," he continued. "Come 2028 in the presidential election, could you imagine one of them versus [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio?"

Buttigieg previously sought the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2020 before serving as transportation secretary under then-President Joe Biden.

Harris became the Democrat nominee in 2024 after Biden ended his reelection campaign, but she lost the general election to Trump.

The Republican side of the Emerson survey showed a nearly even contest between Vice President JD Vance and Rubio, with Vance receiving 39% and Rubio drawing 38%.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump Jr. each received 5%, while 9% of Republican voters were undecided, suggesting the party does not yet have a clear successor to Trump.

No leading contender has formally entered the 2028 race, and the presidential nominating calendar is still being developed.

The Democratic National Committee is considering which states should receive influential early positions in its 2028 primary process, with South Carolina and Nevada competing for the first spot, The Associated Press reported.

Despite McLaughlin's optimism about the next presidential election, the Emerson survey contained warning signs for Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Democrats led Republicans 53% to 42% on the generic congressional ballot, while Trump's job approval rating stood at 39% and his disapproval rating was 57%.

The survey was conducted July 19-20 among 1,100 likely voters and had a credibility interval of ±2.9 percentage points, although results for the smaller party-primary groups carry wider intervals.

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