Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is currently pulling double duty as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser as well, is suddenly looking good for a slot on a 2028 GOP presidential ticket.
According to a new Atlas Intel poll, Rubio has reached a new high in support for the still-hypothetical 2028 Republican presidential primary.
The Hialeah Republican now holds second place with 19% support, trailing Vice President J.D. Vance, who leads the field with 37%. Rubio’s surge suggests he may be positioning himself for another run at the presidency after his 2016 bid — or at least a spot on the ticket as Vance’s potential running mate.
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is currently in fifth place with 8% support, behind “none of the above” at 16% and Donald Trump Jr. at 9%.
Trump has previously named both Rubio and Vance as potential successors, Florida Politics reports.
“You look at Marco, you look at JD Vance, who’s fantastic,” Trump told NBC News last month when asked about 2028, adding that “10 or 15 people” likewise could run.
Whether DeSantis is on that short list remains uncertain—he notably didn’t receive a mention from the president, the outlet reported.
It’s also unclear whether Rubio’s recent surge is a trend or an outlier. A Rasmussen poll released this week showed both Rubio and DeSantis tied at just 5% support, said Florida Politics.
Atlas Intel has been the most favorable pollster for Rubio this cycle, however. In its previous survey from April, both Rubio and DeSantis registered 9%, still well behind Vice President Vance’s commanding 60%, but those numbers marked relative high points for both compared to other recent polls.
“Meanwhile, a JL Partners poll this month showed DeSantis at 8% and Rubio at 6%,” the outlet said.
Political analyst Mark Halperin has made his prediction about who will be at the top of the next presidential ticket for Republicans, and part of it should come as no surprise: Vance and Rubio.
Halperin told host Brett Baier that it may be a rare occurrence where the ticket is “preordained.”
Baier played a clip of Secretary Rubio speaking to senators about ongoing global affairs, and the host said that the secretary’s “stock has gone up.”
“Yeah, you know, when he was back in the Florida legislature, he was tagged as someone destined for, you know, a national profile, and his presidential campaign disappointed his supporters, but he is just one of the stars of this administration, even if you don’t agree with his policies. His knowledge of policy, his knowledge, his rhetoric, his confidence, and his winning over MAGA. He went through a rough spell with MAGA over immigration, and now he is one of the heroes of the movement,” Halperin said.
“And I said earlier today, I’ll say it again, I really do think J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio could end up being a preordained ticket in 2028, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” he said.
Anti-Trump influencer Tim Miller said last month that he believes Rubio could be the candidate to beat for the 2028 GOP nomination — not Vance.
“Any signs of Vance or Rubio just, you know, preliminarily, possibly, potentially laying the groundwork for 2028?” Miller was asked on MSNBC.
“I don’t possibly see how you could look at Marco Rubio’s behavior as anything other than an interest in 2028. I mean, he has changed his views to move towards MAGA on basically every relevant foreign policy issue. I mean, he was a huge advocate for people fleeing communism, fleeing Venezuela, fleeing Nicaragua, fleeing Cuba throughout his whole career,” Miller said.
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“I think it does help Marco, for sure. I mean, J.D., I think is the obvious one, but Marco’s case, I think it does obviously helps, but I think it also helps him because, well, he was — you know, he ran for president in 2016 being very different from Donald Trump, from a temperament and policy standpoint,” Miller continued.