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JD Vance Dominates CPAC Straw Poll as Leading Contender for 2028 GOP Nomination

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  February 23, 2025 9:00 AM

Vice President J.D. Vance emerged as the overwhelming favorite to succeed President Donald Trump in 2028. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) poll, which is often seen as a barometer for the Republican Party's future, showed Vance leading the pack with a commanding lead over potential rivals. His rise in the poll highlights his growing prominence within the Republican party, significantly as his influence shapes politics in and outside the United States. 

The poll revealed that 61 percent of the 1,022 CPAC attendees selected Vance as the party’s presidential nominee for 2028. Former Trump counselor and conservative activist Steve Bannon followed in a distant second place with 12 percent, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis secured third place with only seven percent support. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s UN ambassador nominee, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), received three percent support. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem received just one percent. 

The poll also found that 99 percent of the CPAC attendees agreed with the statement that “The first few weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency have been the best for the modern conservative movement in my lifetime.” Ninety-four percent said they “strongly agreed.”   

During his appearance at the conservative event, Vance had a powerful message for young men. 

He urged them not to let this “broken culture” convince them that they are terrible people simply for being men.

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“[Our culture] wants to turn everybody, whether male or female, into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same, and act the same,” the vice president stated. “We actually think God made male and female for a purpose, and we want you guys to thrive as young men and as young women. And we’re going to help with our public policy to make it possible to do that.”