There is one clear cut winner for the conservative vote in 2028 — Vice President JD Vance.
That is according a straw poll conducted at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“You guys are the conservative movement, you guys are the thought leaders, the opinion leaders. We asked folks who they thought would be the Republican nominee, who they preferred for the Republican for president in 2028. And who is it?,” Jim McLaughlin, president of McLaughlin & Associates Polls, said, Fox News reported.
Vance is considered the chosen one because of his proximity and ideology to President Donald Trump.
“JD Vance. And why? Because he’s viewed as the closest thing to Donald Trump,” McLaughlin said.
Others in contention for 2028 are Steve Bannon, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
— CPAC (@CPAC) February 22, 2025
@CPAC STRAW POLL RESULT: When asked who they think should be the 2028 Republican nominee for president, CPAC attendees chose Vice President @JDVance.
JD Vance – 61%
Steve Bannon – 12%
Ron DeSantis – 7%
Marco Rubio – 3%
Elise Stefanik – 3%
Donald Trump Jr. – 2%
Tulsi Gabbard -… pic.twitter.com/rrefVnuzgN
More than 1,000 attendees took part in the poll.
The conference ran from Wednesday to Saturday.
The straw poll has predicted conservatives’ views and voting trends in previous years accurately.
This includes Trump winning the 2024 primary and general election.
“You know how I knew Donald Trump was going to win the people in this room? Because when we did the CPAC polls over the years, and you had the mainstream media saying, you know, ‘Donald Trump couldn’t win again.’ Donald Trump was winning overwhelmingly, not by a little bit, overwhelmingly in every single CPAC poll,” McLaughlin said. “You guys knew he was going to win the primary. You all knew that he was going to win the general election, no matter what the Democrats threw at us.”
