New poll complicates Vance’s status as Trump’s likely 2028 heir apparent

A new poll from New Hampshire, the state that for a century has held the first Republican presidential primary, is the latest to indicate that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is gaining ground in a hypothetical 2028 GOP nomination matchup with Vice President JD Vance.Vance stands at 36% support among likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire, with Rubio at 26%, according to a University of New Hampshire (UNH) Granite State Poll released this week.That's a massive shift from the previous UNH 2028 presidential nomination survey, conducted in February, which indicated Vance topping Rubio 53% to 7%.

Vance has long been viewed as the heir apparent to term-limited President Donald Trump and his MAGA and America First base. While Vance remains the clear hypothetical frontrunner, Rubio has narrowed the gap in national polls and surveys conducted in key early-voting presidential primary states ahead of a race that is not expected to begin in earnest until after this autumn's midterm elections.AOC SURGES PAST BUTTIGIEG, LEAVES HARRIS AND NEWSOM IN THE DUST, IN NEW 2028 POLLRubio's rise in the 2028 polls this year comes amid an increase in his responsibilities and public profile, including his role in the U.

S. operation in Venezuela and the ongoing war against Iran.Rubio, who as a senator from Florida was one of more than a dozen Republican contenders who ran and lost to Trump in the tumultuous 2016 presidential primary, came in a close second to Vance earlier this year in the closely watched 2028 Republican presidential nomination straw poll at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, which is better known by its acronym CPAC.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who ran for the nomination in 2016 and is mulling another bid, stood a distant third at 8% in the new UNH survey, along with former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was the runner-up to Trump in 2024.

RAND PAUL FLOATS POSSIBLE 2028 RUN AS HE PUTS MORE DAYLIGHT BETWEEN HIMSELF AND TRUMPFlorid