Vice President Vance is the clear front-runner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, well ahead of other possible candidates, according to a new poll.
The Emerson College Polling survey released on Friday showed Vance receiving 46 percent support, with his closest competitors being Secretary of State Marco Rubio with 12 percent and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) with 9 percent. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is an independent, followed with 5 percent, then Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley with 2 percent each.
The other six listed names received 1 percent or less, while 17 percent said they were undecided and 4 percent said they prefer someone else not listed.
This marks an improvement for Vance from Emerson’s November poll exploring a hypothetical 2028 Republican primary. Vance led in that poll by a smaller amount, with 30 percent compared to 5 percent for DeSantis and 3 percent for 2024 GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Half of all respondents said at the time that they were undecided.
Emerson College Polling Executive Director Spencer Kimball said in a release that Vance has “solidified” himself as the frontrunner, noting he had support from 52 percent of male Republican voters and voters over 60 years old.
President Trump has weighed in somewhat on who could be his successor as Republican nominee in 2028 but has avoided declaring support for one candidate. He told Fox News in February that “it’s too early” to declare Vance as his successor but said he and others are “very capable.”
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” from last month, he mentioned Vance and Rubio as possible future leaders of his “Make America Great Again,” or MAGA, movement.
“I think [Vance is] a fantastic, brilliant guy,” he said. “Marco is great. There’s a lot of them that are great.”
The poll was conducted from June 24 to 25 among 1,000 registered voters, including 416 Republican primary voters. The margin of error among Republican respondents was 4.8 points.
