Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President Vance lead a new survey of Republican voters on whom they view as a strong presidential candidate in 2028. With midterms in the rear view, both parties are already beginning to look to the next presidential election. In a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, 45 percent of Republican voters…
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President Vance lead a new survey of Republican voters on whom they view as a strong presidential candidate in 2028.
With midterms in the rear view, both parties are already beginning to look to the next presidential election.
In a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, 45 percent of Republican voters said Rubio would make an excellent candidate for president, with another 23 percent saying he would be a good candidate. Only 5 percent said he would be a poor choice.
The vice president was not far behind, with 43 percent rating him an excellent candidate, and another 28 percent rating him as good. Vance has long been considered the frontrunner, and recent actions suggest he may be trying to distance himself from unpopular positions of the administration. After the midterms, he was quick to blame the Iran war for GOP losses.
In third place is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with a combined 60 percent saying he would be excellent or good, but a sharp drop off emerges after that.
President Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. is in fourth place, but views of him are very polarized — 38 percent rated him a poor candidate, more than the combined share who said he would be excellent or good. The president’s approval rating in the Reuters/Ipsos poll held steady at a near-record low 32 percent, which may hurt his son’s perception among Republicans.
On the Democratic side, the nomination appears to be wide open, as several candidates have moderate levels of support. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff led the pack, each with 29 percent saying they would be an excellent candidate. Another 27 percent say Buttigieg would be good, and 20 percent say the same of Ossoff.
Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Ind., ran in 2020, where he performed unexpectedly well, narrowly winning the Iowa caucus. Ossoff is seen as a top contender after winning reelection in battleground Georgia by nearly 20 points.
Still, more than a third of Democratic voters have not heard of him or skipped rating him. More than 20 percent said the same of Buttigieg.
In third place is a candidate nearly all voters had heard of but had polarized views on: 23 percent said former Vice President Harris would make an excellent candidate, and another 30 percent said she would be a good one. But a combined 45 percent say she would be fair or poor, the most of any candidate surveyed on the Democratic side.
The top six candidates on the Democratic side would all likely classify themselves as moderates, and the only progressive on the list is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N. Y.), with 15 percent saying she would make an excellent candidate, and another 33 percent saying she would be good.
No major candidates have yet announced for president, but historically, candidates have announced in the weeks and months after the midterm elections. In 2022, Trump announced his comeback bid just one week after the midterms.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted Nov. 6-9 among 477 registered Republican voters and 538 registered Democratic voters. The margin of error is 5 points.
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