Vice President JD Vance overwhelmingly led a hypothetical 2028 Republican presidential primary straw poll conducted at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, underscoring his strong standing among the Republican and MAGA base.
According to an image of the poll shared by Charlie Kirk Show producer Blake Neff, Vance secured 84 percent support among respondents in a field that included five other prominent Republicans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio finished a distant second with 5 percent support.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis placed third with 3 percent, followed by Donald Trump Jr. at 2 percent. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz trailed with 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Three percent of respondents said they were undecided, while another 3 percent wrote in a different candidate.
While Rubio lagged far behind Vance in the presidential preference question, the straw poll showed him maintaining strong approval among attendees. Rubio posted a 93 percent approval rating for his performance as secretary of state.
President Donald Trump has previously suggested that a Vance–Rubio ticket in 2028 would be formidable. Speaking aboard Air Force One during a Southeast Asia trip in October, Trump praised both men and said a joint ticket would be difficult to challenge. During a cabinet meeting earlier this month, Trump again hinted that the next Republican nominee could come from among his current cabinet members, subtly gesturing toward Vance while noting that two officials at the table could potentially run together.
The AmericaFest straw poll also captured attendees’ views on immigration. Asked whether they would support a moratorium on new immigration into the United States, roughly nine in ten respondents said they favored halting both legal and illegal immigration. Just 10.5 percent said they opposed such a moratorium.
The poll was conducted during the first AmericaFest since the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in September and reflected the views of an audience made up largely of young conservatives.
Attendees were also asked to identify the biggest threats facing the United States. Radical Islam ranked as the top concern, followed by communism and mass migration.
The strong support for an immigration moratorium among AmericaFest attendees comes as the foreign-born population in the United States has reached record levels. Under the Biden administration, the foreign-born population climbed to 52 million last year, with nearly seven million immigrants added in fewer than four years.
The United States currently admits more than one million legal immigrants annually, in addition to hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who arrive on temporary work visas. Over a ten-year period, the country brings in close to 10 million legal immigrants, many of whom later obtain naturalized U.S. citizenship.
The straw poll results highlight both Vance’s dominance among conservative activists and the continued centrality of immigration policy to the priorities of the Republican grassroots ahead of the 2028 election cycle.
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