Vice President JD Vance has surged as a clear frontrunner in early polling for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, according to a new Emerson College survey.
Vance leads the 2028 GOP field with 46 percent support, far ahead of Marco Rubio鈥檚 12 percent and Ron DeSantis’ 9 percent.
Independent Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. garnered 5 percent support, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley each earned 2 percent.
The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters, including 416 Republican primary voters, between June 24 and 25, with a 4.8-point margin of error for GOP respondents.
Meanwhile, 17 percent of respondents were undecided, and six other candidates polled at 1 percent or less.
Vance鈥檚 support has grown significantly since Emerson鈥檚 November poll, rising from 30 percent to 46 percent, while DeSantis and other contenders saw little change.
In November, half of the respondents were undecided.
President Donald Trump himself has praised both Vance and Rubio, though he has stopped short of officially designating either of them as his successor.
鈥淵ou look at Marco, you look at JD Vance, who鈥檚 fantastic,鈥 Trump told NBC News in a May interview on Meet the Press. 鈥淵ou look at鈥擨 could name 10, 15, 20 people right now just sitting here. No, I think we have a tremendous party.鈥
Trump also denied plans to seek a third presidential term in that interview, saying he intends to be a two-term president. Though he previously claimed he wasn鈥檛 joking about serving a third term, which is unconstitutional, Trump later said those remarks were meant to troll the media.
On the Democratic side of Emerson College鈥檚 most recent survey, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg edges out ex-Vice President Kamala Harris with 16 percent to 13 percent in the Emerson survey.
Also in contention are California Governor Gavin Newsom at 12 percent and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro with 7鈥痯ercent, though nearly a quarter of Democratic voters remain undecided.
Harris鈥檚 support has notably dropped from 37鈥痯ercent in November.