NEW: JD Vance Crushes Other Contenders In Hypothetical 2028 Primary Poll

A rush to carry the mantle of the post-Trump MAGA movement may be a foregone conclusion, according to a Republican primary poll showing Vice President J.D. Vance up big.

As high as Vance is flying, other potential contenders find themselves in the nadirs of historic lows. Among them is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, once predicted to give President Trump the primary fight of his life only to squander more than $100 million on a botched White House bid that never made it past Super Tuesday.

Among Republicans, a full 46% would support Vice President Vance if he runs to succeed his boss. The former Ohio senator hasn’t batted back the palace intrigue, and his homespun roots as an Appalachian-turned-midwestern underdog were utilized effectively when he handily topped a field of six other candidates, including former state treasurer Josh Mandel, in 2022.

“We’ll see,” Vance told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo last month when asked about the speculation.

“I’d say that we’ve not thought a lot about politics in the last six months,” he added, “but the way that I think about this is, the best thing for my future is actually the best thing for the American people, which is that we do a really good job over the next three and a half years.”

When it comes to the competition, Vance doesn’t have much. DeSantis registers at just 7%, an all-time low according to pollster Echelon Insights. That leaves him tied for second place with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Behind them sits Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 4%.

Since Echelon’s last poll on February 10th, DeSantis has dropped from 10% and now couldn’t even count on winning his home state. A poll by Fabrizio Lee & Associates showed Vance besting the governor 47% to 33% among Florida’s Republican primary voters.

Also this week, Democrats salivated at the prospect of Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg jumping into the race for president after he declined to seek the Senate seat being vacated by Gary Peters (D-MI). Allies told Politico that he intends to mount a serious second bid for the White House after falling short in 2020 only to be picked up by former President Joe Biden for a cabinet position.

Part of Buttigieg’s calculus will indubitably be whether former Vice President Kamala Harris makes another run herself. Since leaving the White House in January, Harris has been focused on publishing a new memoir chronicling her rise to power and upbringing in California.

She is likewise contemplating a local campaign for the state’s governorship, which opens in 2026. But if she were to run for president, she would enjoy a heady start similar to Vance: 41% of likely Democratic primary voters prefer her, far more than Buttigieg or Govs. Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, and Tim Walz, all of whom were mired in the single digits of a poll late last year.