JD Vance’s popularity is steadily plummeting among Republican voters while his top adversary gains ground.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten pointed out that the gap between Vance, 41, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 55, has narrowed significantly between February and July in University of New Hampshire polling on potential 2028 Republican presidential candidates.
In February, 53 percent of GOP presidential primary voters said they would vote for Vance while only 7 percent said they would go with Rubio, giving the vice president a hefty 46-point margin over his good friend.
In July, however, only 36 percent of Republican voters said they would vote for Vance while 26 percent said they preferred Rubio, bringing the vice president’s lead down to just 10 points.
“Now Vance is at 36 percent, dropping like a rock. And look at Marco Rubio up there, climbing up to Mount Washington up to 26 percent,” Enten said on Thursday. “What wasn’t a race in February has become very much a race right now with the secretary of state very much closing the gap between him and the vice president of the United States.”
“Just in six months’ time, Marco Rubio has absolutely climbed out of the cellar, right behind the vice president,” Enten added. “This is happening when JD Vance is making one of the biggest pushes of his vice presidency in terms of PR. It doesn’t seem to be working in the Granite State.”
Last month, Vance went on a press tour to promote his second book Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith. The media blitz included tense appearances on The View and was largely marred by discussions surrounding the Trump administration’s war with Iran.
“This is probably the best polling data that Marco Rubio’s received and probably the worst polling data that JD Vance has received ahead of 2028 so far,” Enten said.
The field for potential GOP presidential candidates is crowded. Other names that appeared on the University of New Hampshire’s poll were Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former spy chief Tulsi Gabbard, each of whom received anywhere from 4 to 8 percent.
Six percent of voters said they were still undecided. Several other names got zero votes, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Across the aisle, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and California Gov. Gavin Newsom emerged as frontrunners for the Democratic presidential primary.
