Advisers to Vice President JD Vance are privately preparing for a fierce Republican primary battle in 2028, as GOP senators begin positioning themselves to succeed Donald Trump.
Vance’s team expects him to face serious opposition if he enters the race. The vice president has already begun working to rebuild support among Republicans whose enthusiasm for his potential candidacy has cooled, according to The Washington Post.
At the end of August, Vance traveled to Las Vegas to speak at the Republican Jewish Coalition summit. His appearance came as some members of the group questioned his relationship with Tucker Carlson, who has faced accusations of anti-Semitism while criticizing the war with Iran.
After missing each other at the RJC gathering, Vance invited conservative Jewish radio personality Sid Rosenberg to the White House last week. He later hosted Rosenberg and other guests for a Shabbat dinner at the Naval Observatory on Friday, shortly before Yom Kippur.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz has used Vance’s views on Iran and his association with Carlson as points of attack. Cruz has also said Republicans will eventually hold a “discussion” over Trump’s successor—and that he plans to be involved.
The early maneuvering has also prompted one of Fox News’ most recognizable Republican personalities to consider a presidential bid. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, 74, followed Cruz to Iowa, the first state scheduled to hold a GOP nominating contest, and addressed a major Republican event there on Saturday.
“I’m planning on running for reelection,” Kennedy told the Post. “But if I get tired of this place and/or if a bunch of goobers run for president, then I reserve the right to run.”
The Louisiana senator’s national profile grew after the 2025 publication of his bestselling book, How to Test Negative for Stupid. His Senate campaign account held $18.6 million at the end of June.
Vice President JD Vance, accompanied by his wife, Usha Vance, speaks at Vantage Plastics in Bay City, Michigan, on March 14, 202
Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy delivers remarks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in May 2023
“What was that song the Judds sang—‘Why Not Me?’” Kennedy said, invoking the country duo’s 1984 hit.
Vance led a recent Bowling Green State University/YouGov survey of Republican voters with 44 percent support. Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed at 21 percent, while Cruz received 3 percent. Rubio has said he does not intend to run and would support Vance.
Rubio also lacks the political infrastructure that could support a 2028 campaign, including a broad network of staff and allies. Vance, meanwhile, has frequent access to the Republican Party’s largest donors through his position as chair of the Republican National Committee’s finance operation.
Ken Griffin, the Citadel billionaire who donated more than $100 million to Republican-aligned groups during the 2024 election cycle, said in July that he would be “predisposed” to favor Rubio over Vance.
On prediction market Kalshi, Vance’s odds fell from 43 percent in February to 31 percent in June, while Rubio’s climbed to 30 percent as the Iran war reshaped the political landscape. Vance’s numbers have since rebounded to 45 percent, with Rubio slipping back to 21 percent.
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An Emerson poll in May showed Rubio just one percentage point behind Vance. A McLaughlin survey released last month placed Vance at 32 percent and Donald Trump Jr. at 19 percent.
Vance’s reservations about the Iran war have already emerged as a vulnerability. In late February, Trump publicly acknowledged that his vice president was “maybe less enthusiastic” about launching strikes.
“He was, I would say, philosophically a little bit different than me,” Trump told reporters in March, while emphasizing that the two men “get along very well on this.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz speaks on Capitol Hill in April 2024
Donald Trump shakes hands with JD Vance at the Midterm Republican National Convention in Dallas on September 10
Marco Rubio, second lady Usha Vance and JD Vance on the South Lawn of the White House in April
Asked about Vance on the Pod Force One podcast last week, Cruz said that the party was in the midst of an ideological battle: ‘Are we a small-government, free-market conservative party, or are we a big-government nanny-state party?’
‘That’s a really big, fundamental divide about what we believe … On foreign policy, are we an isolationist party? Do we want to just withdraw from the world? Or do we believe in American leadership?’
The Daily Mail has contacted the vice president’s office for comment.
Florida Senator Rick Scott, one of the richest men in the Senate, insists he is not running but made clear which job he rates highest at a GOP dinner in New Hampshire on Friday.
‘The best job is to be the president,’ Scott said. ‘If that’s not available, be the governor. If that’s not available and you still have to do something, maybe be a US senator.’
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who scored 1 percent in the Bowling Green/YouGov poll, says he is 50-50 on a run and will not decide until after the midterms.
‘I think the Republican primary electorate’s probably more with me than with the rest of them,’ he told the Post.
Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who lost his May primary to a Trump-backed challenger, has not ruled out a run but says it is pointless to size up the field before the midterms.
‘Maybe we lose the majority, everybody’s down on Trump, then he gets impeached three times and everybody likes him again,’ Massie said. ‘Who knows?’