2028 too late? JD Vance tops Ron DeSantis, other Floridians in GOP nomination poll

Image via AP.

During his presidential campaign, Ron DeSantis was encouraged to wait his turn so Donald Trump could run for the White House again. A new survey suggests, however, that the Florida Governor’s window may be closed by then.

An Echelon Insights survey of 395 Republican likely voters shows DeSantis with 14% support in the very hypothetical early sample of a 2028 race, good for second place.

Ahead of the Governor: vice presidential nominee JD Vance of Ohio, who is at 25%.

DeSantis is ahead of everyone but Vance. His closest national competition: Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley, who have 10% and 9%, respectively.

Meanwhile, other “Florida man” candidates are in also-ran status in the Echelon survey. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been floated as Secretary of State if Trump is elected, has 2% support. And U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is further back, at 1%.

DeSantis hasn’t offered much in the way of public comment on Vance being Trump’s running mate, though he has been supportive of the ticket. But he has also done work to keep his name in the national conversation.

He addressed Iowa Republicans at a lunch at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, saying he wouldn’t pick President Joe Biden to be on a “mosquito control board” at that event.

Meanwhile, August promises more political travel for DeSantis. He will go to Washington, where Republicans seek to raise $1 million for Trump.

Indeed, in recent weeks, DeSantis has been fundraising for the former President, and hopes are that he can help Trump’s operation get a $10 million boost.

During the 2022 cycle, DeSantis went to Ohio to help Vance get elected to the Senate, but the Hillbilly Elegy author endorsed Trump in January 2023, even before the Governor got into the presidential race. (He was waiting until the Legislative Session ended to make it official.)

The DeSantis rally with Vance was staged by the conservative group Turning Point USA. The Governor was greeted with a standing ovation at the Ohio event, where he stressed his familial ties to Youngstown before offering his wisdom.

DeSantis’ comments about his future intentions have been all over the place, meanwhile, but he clearly is not closing the door on higher office.

“Oh, I haven’t ruled anything out. I mean, I think that, you know, we’re still in this election cycle so it’s presumptuous to say, you know, this or that. I think a lot happens in politics,” DeSantis said in February, addressing the 2028 question during a call with people who pledged to be his delegates at the GOP Convention.

“We’ll see what the future holds,” DeSantis said to a radio host in Iowa back in January, suggesting that he was indeed striving to keep the band together.

“Most of the people that supported me, whether activists, whether volunteers, whether fundraisers, you know, they’re all on board, you know, for what the future holds. So we’ll be active,” DeSantis promised.

More recently, the Governor told Fox News Channel viewers that he didn’t “have any plans for the future” when asked about a future run by Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures.