Overview
- A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday found Republicans JD Vance and Marco Rubio and Democrats Jon Ossoff and Pete Buttigieg drawing the most early voter attention in the 2028 conversation.
- About 45% of Republican respondents rated Rubio an “excellent” candidate and 43% rated Vance that way while 29% of Democrats gave that rating to both Buttigieg and Ossoff; the survey covered 1,705 adults and had a roughly five-point margin of error for party subsamples.
- None of the four has launched a campaign and the parties' nominating contests remain more than a year away, so their current standing is provisional and may change as new contenders emerge.
- President Trump remains central to the calculus: he has asked allies whether they prefer Vance or Rubio and told CBS's 60 Minutes he would “not necessarily” make a Republican primary endorsement.
- Republican discomfort over the administration's war on Iran and higher fuel prices has opened space for alternatives, Rubio has been less visible in peace talks, Vance has signaled some distance from Trump, and analysts say early name recognition can cut fundraising costs but is an unstable early measure.