Grassroots conservatives are “all in” for Vice President JD Vance in 2028, a straw poll from Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest found.
The veep is running circles around all the potential GOP challengers in the next presidential contest, with 84.2% of those surveyed backing him, followed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a distant 4.8%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 2.9% and Donald Trump Jr. at 1.8%, per the poll.
“JD Vance won the 2028 nomination straw poll by more than Donald Trump won the 2024 one we did two years ago,” Blake Neff, producer of the “Charlie Kirk Show,” said on X.
Two years ago, President Trump clinched 82.6% support, followed by DeSantis at 7.6%.
Vance was the final A-list guest to speak at the AmericaFest gathering in Phoenix. Before he gave his remarks, Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk effectively endorsed him to become the 48th president.
Trump’s No. 2 has consistently dominated the 2028 polling on the Republican side as Trump’s heir apparent, but insists he isn’t focused on that just yet.
“We’re going to win the midterms. We’re going to do everything that we can to win the midterms,” Vance told Fox News’ “Hannity” when asked about his 2028 plans.
“And then after that, I’m going to sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it.”
Still, that doesn’t stop him from taking the periodic swipe at potential 2028 Democratic foes.
“Democrats are already talking about 2028 and it looks like they’re going to nominate a California liberal who’s presided over rolling blackouts, open borders and unchecked violent gangs,” Vance said during his AmericaFest speech Sunday.
“They’re just trying to settle on whether it’s going to be Gavin Newsom or Kamala Harris.”
Some GOP critics, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), aren’t entirely sold on Vance and are hoping for a standard-bearer with a more libertarian bent.
Trump has stopped short of making an endorsement some three years out from the next major election. The sitting president also remains incredibly popular among grassroots activists.
His most popular accomplishment was securing the border (60%), followed by his mass deportation campaign (22.2%). A whopping 89.5% of respondents would support a moratorium on immigration to the US.
Going forward, 63.9% of respondents said that winning the midterms is the top priority of the conservative movement.
Of Trump’s cabinet, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr notched the highest job approval number at 96.8%, followed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at 94.7% and Rubio at 91.1%.
Attorney General Pam Bondi had the highest disapproval, with 29% either strongly or somewhat disapproving of her performance. She was the only cabinet official to have a double-digit disapproval rating.
The poll found that 94.7% of respondents consider themselves conservatives and 88.3% Republicans. The survey was taken by Big Data Poll.
