Rubio leads Vance by 36 points in new 2028 GOP straw poll

Campaign Rubio leads Vance by 36 points in new 2028 GOP straw poll Comments: by Max Rego - 08/04/26 7:04 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 08/04/26 7:04 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio captured a strong majority of conservatives participating in a 2028 GOP presidential straw poll over the weekend, finishing 36 points ahead of Vice President Vance.

The survey of attendees at the Western Conservative Summit in Colorado found that 57 percent of 500-plus respondents backed Rubio — who led a group of 27 Republican and Democratic candidates.

Vance, in second, received support from 21 percent of attendees. Former Vice President Mike Pence, libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) rounded out the top five.

Regarding whom attendees approved of heading into 2028, just three Republicans received support from a majority — Rubio at 85 percent, Vance at 71 percent and DeSantis at 55 percent.

Greg Schaller, the director of the Centennial Institute, which hosted the summit, called Rubio “a leader who has spent his career defending the principles of faith, family, and freedom without wavering.”

Schaller added, “Secretary Rubio has earned this trust the hard way, and this Summit’s grassroots are telling him, loud and clear, that they’re behind him.”

Neither Vance nor Rubio has announced a run, and the latter told Vanity Fair last year he will defer to the vice president if he seeks the GOP nomination.

In June, Vance said he will discuss a presidential run with his wife, second lady Usha Vance, after the November midterms. Usha Vance gave birth last month to the couple’s fourth child.

“The way I make decisions is, I try not to make them until I absolutely must,” the vice president told Robert Costa on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

President Trump has not publicly endorsed a candidate. But Vance told Costa the president, whom he dubbed a “political animal,” brings up the 2028 race “a lot” during their conversations.

Trump also floated a Vance-Rubio ticket in June. The president said a combination of Vance, a populist, and Rubio, who has traditional conservative credentials, would be “a great team.”

“I don’t know how you beat them if they’re together,” he told Miranda Devine on an episode of the New York Post’s “Pod Force One.”