Vice President-elect JD Vance is the runaway frontrunner for the Republicans’ 2028 presidential pick, according to an AmericaFest straw poll taken at the event.
In one question, the straw poll took a look beyond President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, asking attendees who they would like to see as the 2028 Republican presidential nominee.
The majority, 58 percent, want to see Vance as the presidential nominee in 2028. In a distant second place is Donald Trump Jr., with 17 percent. Another six percent said they want to see Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the presidential nominee in 2028, and 11 percent remain undecided.
On the reverse side, a plurality think California Gov. Gavin Newsom will emerge as the Democrat nominee in 2028 — 35 percent. Just 17 percent believe it will be Vice President Kamala Harris, and 16 percent believe it will be Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Four percent said they think it will be Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and 1.6 percent said it will be Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The survey also asked respondents which Cabinet nominations they are most excited about, and a plurality pointed to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., slated to head up Health and Human Services (HHS). Another 31 percent said Kash Patel, slated to head up the FBI.
“When asked to rank all of Trump’s high-profile picks, Patel rose to #1,” Charlie Kirk noted.
The survey’s results came shortly after AmericaFest, which took place December 19-22, 2024.
Vance remains a favorite among conservatives and has backed Trump’s Cabinet picks, including Defense Secretary Nominee Pete Hegseth, who has remained the victim of a consistent smear campaign by Democrats and the swamp.
“Pete Hegseth is going to get his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, not a sham hearing before the American media,” he said, defending the nominee:
We believe Pete Hegseth is the right guy to lead the Department of Defense, that’s why President Trump nominated him. We’re not abandoning this nomination. We’re not going to make it easy for people to allow the media to determine who our secretary of defense is. Donald J. Trump, who just won the election by a very significant margin with the advise and consent of the United States Senate. That’s who determines who the Secretary of Defense is.
“I fully support Pete. I think Pete is going to get confirmed and we are completely behind him,” Vance added.
Many surmised that DeSantis blew up his 2028 chances after a nasty primary battle against Trump, but he has remained publicly supportive of the president-elect and relatively out of the spotlight.