With the 2026 midterm elections now in the rearview mirror, the focus shifts to the 2028 presidential election.
Vice President JD Vance and former Vice President Kamala Harris appear to be favorites to be tapped by their respective parties, with the vice president attempting damage control.
According to a recent poll from The Center Square, 44% of voters say they would throw their support behind the current vice president.
As for Democrats, 29% of voters say they would support Harris, who lives in Los Angeles and is the former state attorney general, according to a similar poll from The Center Square.
On the Republican side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio received 18%, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 8%, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 5%, followed by Nikki Haley; Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost his reelection bid Tuesday night; Glenn Youngkin; Vivek Ramaswamy; Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Kristi Noem; Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Mike Pompeo.
On the Democratic side, California Gov. Gavin Newsom came in second place at 18%, followed by Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Gov. Josh Shapiro; Gov. JB Pritzker; U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Gov. Andy Beshear; Gov. Wes Moore; U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
Vance may be laying the groundwork for his campaign Wednesday morning, as he appears to issue some damage control from the midterm elections.
The vice president posted a long post on X, placing blame for the devastating loss on the war with Iran.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance posted.
To be sure, President Donald Trump said he believed Iran was “part” of the reason Republicans lost.
Vance claimed voters wanted an end to the war, “focus on cost of living/inflation,” “put America first” and “change our relationship with Israel.”
The vice president briefly mentioned immigration, suggesting the administration make changes to enforcement policies, adding that they should be “focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor.”
Vance, as vice president, serves as the president of the Senate. In his post-mortem, he didn’t mention the GOP-controlled Senate failing to codify portions of the Trump administration’s executive actions and agenda, including passing the Save America Act and DOGE.
Trump has been pressed multiple times on whether he would throw his weight behind his vice president, which he has punted each time, pointing to other potential candidates that he thinks would do well too.
At the time of publication, the president did not opine on the vice president’s indictment of Trump’s decision to preemptively strike Iran, one he continues to defend, despite the negative polling and subsequent higher energy prices.