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Vice President JD Vance has long been seen as the heir apparent to President Donald Trump and his MAGA and America First base. While Vance remains the hypothetical clear front-runner ahead of the start of the 2028 White House race, which won’t ignite until after this year’s midterm elections, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears to be on the rise.
Thanks to an increase in his responsibilities and public profile, most recently around the U.S. operation in Venezuela and the month-long strikes against Iran, Rubio has seen his support for a possible presidential bid soar in recent weeks.
The latest example — Rubio’s strong second-place finish this weekend in the 2028 Republican presidential nomination straw poll at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
WHITE HOUSE RACE UNDERWAY: WITH 2026 LOOMING, BOTH PARTIES ARE ALREADY PLAYING FOR 2028
President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters while Vice President JD Vance, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, look on, as they attend a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Rubio, who was one of more than a dozen Republican contenders who ran and lost to Trump in the tumultuous 2016 presidential race, grabbed 35% of the vote at CPAC when the straw poll results were announced this past weekend, up from a mere 3% a year earlier.
Vance, who is popular with MAGA and America First groups, saw his support slightly edge down to 53% from 61% last year. All the other potential Republican 2028 White House candidates scored in the low single digits in the informal survey of CPAC attendees.
HILLARY CLINTON’S RETURING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE – BUT NOT FOR 2028
The CPAC straw poll follows recent numbers from the Saint Anselm College Survey Center in New Hampshire, the state that has long held the first primary in the GOP presidential nominating calendar, that also showed Rubio…
