Secretary of State Marco Rubio won a decisive majority in a 2028 GOP presidential straw poll conducted over the weekend at the Western Conservative Summit in Colorado. Rubio received support from 57 percent of over 500 respondents, finishing 36 points ahead of Vice President Vance, who garnered 21 percent.

The poll included 27 Republican and Democratic candidates. Among Republicans, only three received majority approval from attendees heading into 2028: Rubio at 85 percent, Vance at 71 percent, and DeSantis at 55 percent.

Greg Schaller, director of the Centennial Institute which hosted the summit, praised Rubio as “a leader who has spent his career defending the principles of faith, family, and freedom without wavering,” adding that the grassroots attendees are strongly behind him.

Neither Rubio nor Vance has officially announced a presidential run. Rubio told Vanity Fair last year he would defer to Vance if the vice president seeks the GOP nomination. Vance stated in June that he will discuss a presidential bid with his wife, second lady Usha Vance, after the November midterm elections.

Vance also told Costa that the president, whom he described as a “political animal,” frequently brings up the 2028 race during their conversations. The president has said that a team combining Vance, a populist, and Rubio, with traditional conservative credentials, would be “a great team.”