Vice President JD Vance towers over potential opponents in a hypothetical 2028 Republican presidential primary straw poll taken at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest.
Vance has the support of more than eight in ten poll participants in a field with five other prominent Republicans, demonstrating the vice president’s extremely strong standing among the Republican and MAGA base.
Of the respondents, 84 percent chose Vance as their pick for the 2028 Republican presidential nominee, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in second place at a very distant 5 percent, according to an image of the poll shared by Charlie Kirk Show producer Blake Neff.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) sits in third place with three percent support, followed by Donald Trump Jr. at two percent. Neither Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) nor Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) secured a whole percentage point, at 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
Three percent were undecided, and another three percent wrote in another name.
While Rubio polls in a distant second, he is still overwhelmingly liked by the base, with an approval rating of 93 percent in his post as secretary of state, per the straw poll.
In October, President Donald Trump suggested that a ticket of Vance and Rubio in 2028 would be a powerhouse.
“We have, JD, obviously, the vice president is great,” Trump said aboard Air Force One during his Southeast Asia trip in late October, as Rubio stood behind Trump and shook his head in agreement. “Marco is great… I’m not sure if anybody would run against those two. I think if they ever formed a group, it would be unstoppable. I really do, I believe that.”
During a cabinet meeting earlier this month, which Vance and Rubio attended, Trump said the 2028 GOP ticket could be two of his cabinet members.
“The problem with [Democrats] is they have really bad policy, and I’m not going to say what it is, because I don’t want them to change it necessarily, because I want to run against… It’s not going to be me, it’s going to be somebody that’s… probably sitting at this table,” he said, as he took a look and made a subtle nod in Vance’s direction across the table.
“Could be a couple of people sitting at this table. Could be a couple of people running together, sitting at this table, but I want them to win, because we’ve done a great job for this country, and I want that to be carried forward,” he added.
