Vice President JD Vance remains the clear favorite among Republicans for the 2028 presidential nomination, according to a new national poll, even as support for him and Donald Trump Jr. has softened since last fall and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made modest gains.
The Voters’ Voice Poll surveyed 952 Republicans and 225 independents who lean Republican across the country. Respondents were asked to choose from 15 well-known conservative politicians or to select “someone else” or “not sure.”
Vance emerged as the frontrunner with 36 percent support — nearly twice the 19 percent received by Trump Jr., who placed second. An additional 14 percent of respondents said they were unsure, meaning roughly 70 percent of the sample either backed one of the top two choices or remained undecided.
The results indicate some movement in the early 2028 landscape. Both Vance and Trump Jr. lost ground compared to a similar poll conducted in October. Rubio, meanwhile, improved his standing. Although he captured just 9 percent overall, he finished third on the list and ranked as the second-most popular candidate among independent voters.
The polling comes at a time of close scrutiny over potential successors in the Trump administration. President Trump recently sought input from a group of donors at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, directly asking for their assessments of both Vance and Rubio.
“What do you think of JD Vance and Marco Rubio?” Trump inquired, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Sources familiar with the gathering told the Journal that donors responded with noticeably louder applause for Rubio than for the vice president. The informal discussion occurred one day after Trump had elevated Rubio’s visibility in the administration’s public activities.
During a press conference in Florida on Monday, Trump offered his own observations on the contrasting styles of the two men. He noted that Vance had been “less enthusiastic” about the prospect of military engagement with Iran and remarked that the vice president sometimes requires restraint.
“He gets a little bit tough on occasion; we gotta slow him down on occasion,” Trump said of Vance.
The president then drew a contrast with Rubio. “Then we have the opposite extreme,” he said. “Marco does it with a velvet glove. But it’s a kill.”
A separate survey conducted by the Daily Mail and JL Partners between March 2 and March 3 provides additional context on influence within Trump’s inner circle. The poll of 1,020 registered voters found Vance leading with 19 percent, followed by Rubio at 12 percent. Stephen Miller and Donald Trump Jr. were tied for third place. The survey had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
That same survey showed Rubio’s net approval rating declining. His favorable rating fell from 40 percent in February to 36 percent. Thirty-four percent of respondents disapproved of Rubio, 17 percent were neutral, and 14 percent were unsure.
Despite media speculation about potential rivalry, both Vance and Rubio have rejected the notion of any conflict. In a February interview with Fox News, Vance described Rubio as “my closest friend in the administration.”
“I think it’s so interesting the media wants to create this conflict where there just isn’t any conflict,” Vance said.
Rubio has similarly signaled strong support for Vance’s future ambitions. In an interview with Vanity Fair last year, he stated that if Vance runs for president in 2028, “he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him.”
The latest polling and behind-the-scenes discussions highlight the early positioning underway within the Republican Party as it looks toward the post-Trump era, with Vance holding a solid lead among the party base while Rubio demonstrates appeal among independents and within certain donor circles.
