Crowd Calls for JD Vance To Be Next President: What Polls Say - Newsweek

Vice President JD Vance was met with chants calling for him to become the 48th president as he addressed Republicans at the party's midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday.

Vance was a headline speaker on the second night of the two-day event, which President Donald Trump first announced in June. The president described the gathering as the Republican Party's first midterm convention, saying it would showcase candidates and prepare voters for the November 3 elections.

During his roughly 40-minute speech, Vance discussed immigration, crime, the economy and the direction of the GOP. At one point, supporters began chanting "48, 48," referring to the possibility of Vance succeeding Trump as president. Vance said, "We gotta take care of business this November, and then we'll worry about what comes next."

Republicans are seeking to retain control of both chambers of Congress in the midterms, when the president's party tends to lose seats. At the convention, Trump urged supporters to "pretend I'm on the ballot." He also used the event to promote Republican candidates and encourage turnout.

With Vance, the convention has made supporters and commentators look beyond November's midterms to 2028, as recent Republican primary polling already places him ahead of other possible candidates in a run for the White Houe.

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Vance has a substantial advantage in Republican primary polling. A Financial Times/Focaldata survey conducted from August 28 to September 2 put Vance at 43 percent, compared with 21 percent for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 9 percent for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and 7 percent for Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son.

A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll conducted August 28 to 30 gave Vance 44 percent, with Rubio at 21 percent and Trump Jr. at 18 percent. Morning Consult polling over the same period put Vance at 36 percent and Rubio at 22 percent. RealClearPolling's current average shows Vance with a 15.4-point advantage over Rubio—at 39.9 percent to 24.5 percent.

The results make Vance the clear early favorite among Republican voters, but that advantage does not necessarily translate into general-election strength. Vance appears better positioned to win the Republican nomination than to defeat several prospective Democratic nominees in the next presidential race.

An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted August 16 to 17 found Vance trailing Democrats such as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia and California Governor Gavin Newsom by identical 49-44 margins in hypothetical 2028 contests. Former Vice President Kamala Harris led Vance 49-45, while Vance led New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 46-44. Rubio performed better than Vance against Harris, Newsom and Ocasio-Cortez in the same survey.

Vance has declined to announce a campaign or rule one out, repeatedly tying any decision to the midterms.

In a June interview with CBS News, Vance said he and his wife, Usha Vance, would discuss "what comes next for our family" after the elections in November. He said he was not spending his time deciding whether to run and added that he had "no doubt" the president would be supportive of whatever decision he made.

Vance also said he never initiates conversations with Trump about 2028, although the president "brings it up a lot."

"I never bring it up," he said. "But sure, the president brings it up a lot, sometimes publicly, sometimes privately. You know, the president's a political animal. He loves this stuff. He's very fascinated by it."

While Trump has increasingly talked up Vance, he has stopped short of any formal endorsement of any potential candidate. In August 2025, less than a year into his second term, Trump said Vance was "most likely" to become his political heir, pointing to his position as vice president and also raising the possibility of a Vance-Rubio ticket.

Since then, however, Trump has continued to entertain competition between the two. Reuters reported in March that he had been privately asking allies and advisers, "JD or Marco?" as he considered who might best succeed him.

After Vance's Dallas speech on Thursday, Trump told reporters he had done "very well," calling him a "very talented guy" and "a great vice president."

Rubio remains the most obvious alternative, consistently placing second to Vance in national primary polling. However, he told Vanity Fair last year that if Vance runs, "he's going to be our nominee, and I'll be one of the first people to support him."

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas—who, like Rubio, ran for president in 2016—is also showing signs of interest in a 2028 bid. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that Cruz has been visiting Iowa, promoting his book, appearing on podcasts and privately discussing what a potential campaign operation could look like.

DeSantis, who ran against Trump in the 2024 primary before dropping out, continues to appear in national polling, though he has not given a direct indication that he plans to run in the next cycle. In May, when asked about a 2028 run during an appearance at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, DeSantis said, "You never know."

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and Shakeema Edwards.