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With President Donald Trump wrapping up the first year of his second term, many pundits are already speculating who his successor may be.
However, a majority of Republicans polled overwhelmingly agreed that incumbent Vice President JD Vance should no longer be the president’s apprentice by 2028, but his successor.
The latest Morning Consult survey of 936 Registered Voters reported that 42 percent of Republicans selected Vance as their preferred 2028 GOP presidential candidate, with the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., coming in second place with 19 percent support.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis placed a distant third at seven percent, followed by former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley with five percent.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with businessman and 2026 Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also tied for fifth place with three percent.
Ultimately, the survey found that Republicans were largely unified around the vice president’s candidacy, while Democrats remained torn on who to have lead their party after the Joe Biden presidency.
Still, polling data showed that the majority of these Democrats preferred a return to Biden-era politics rather than turning a chapter into a new slew of candidates.
On the Democrat side, former Vice President Kamala Harris led the pack of hypothetical primary candidates, leading by nine points (29 percent). Her fellow Californian and Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom placed second with 20 percent, distantly followed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg with eight percent, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with seven percent.
The race fared rather close nationally between speculative Republican and Democrat candidates.
In a head-to-head matchup, Vance led Newsom by one point (42 to 41 percent) in the general election poll, but trailed Harris by one point (43 percent to 42 percent).
Democrats polled slightly better against Rubio. Newsom lead the secretary of state by two points (41 to 39 percent), and Harris also leading by two points (42 to 40 percent).
Should Vance clench the Republican nomination, his journey towards the White House will surely be difficult. After all, history shows that only incumbent four vice presidents—John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, and George H.W. Bush—have been elected president.
Likewise, only two vice presidents—Richard Nixon and Joe Biden—were elected president after their term expired.
However, much of the midwest, notably swing-states Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, have shifted to the right in recent years. Moreover, President Trump carried all three states in 2024 by a wider margin than ever before.
Coming from the midwest, Vance, an Ohio native, could resonate better with these voters as opposed to a candidate like Harris or Newsom, potentially earning him three swing-states, and ultimately, the presidency.