Vance, Rubio, Ossoff, and Buttigieg Top Early 2028 Candidate Ratings
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 45% of registered Republicans rated Marco Rubio an excellent candidate and 43% said the same of JD Vance. Among registered Democrats, Jon Ossoff and Pete Buttigieg each scored 29%.
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Republicans Marco Rubio and JD Vance and Democrats Jon Ossoff and Pete Buttigieg drew the largest shares of “excellent” ratings from voters in their respective parties in an early look at the 2028 White House field.
Secretary of State Rubio earned an “excellent” rating from 45% of registered Republicans, compared with 43% for Vice President Vance, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Georgia Senator Ossoff and former Transportation Secretary Buttigieg each received that rating from 29% of registered Democrats.
The nationwide survey of 1,705 U.S. adults included about 500 registered voters from each party and had a margin of error of five percentage points for each party’s voters.
The parties’ nominating contests are more than a year away, and all four have yet to launch campaigns.
Republicans Weigh Trump’s Legacy
Republican voters are divided over whether their next nominee should follow President Donald Trump’s lead or break with him.
Trump has asked allies whether they prefer Vance or Rubio and told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he would “not necessarily” endorse a candidate in the Republican primary.
The war with Iran, which has pushed up fuel prices, has become a source of discontent among Republicans, Reuters reported.
Vance publicly blamed the war for the party’s losses in the November 3 midterms, while Rubio has been absent from many of the talks aimed at ending it.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received an excellent rating from 32% of registered Republicans.
Ossoff Ties Buttigieg Despite Lower Name Recognition
Ossoff won re-election to the Senate by 18 percentage points in Georgia, which Trump carried by two points in 2024.
About one in three Democratic voters said they had never heard of Ossoff, compared with about one in five for Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Governor Gavin Newsom each drew excellent ratings from 23% of Democratic voters.
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez received the same rating from 15%.
Democratic strategist Elaine Kamarck said potential candidates were still deciding whether to run.
“You might be able to predict who will run, but you certainly don't know anything about who is going to be ahead,” she told Reuters.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
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