JD Vance Remains Republicans’ Top Pick For 2028
Republicans and right-leaning independents still like Vice President JD Vance the best for the next presidential primary, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved up in a new Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll.
The poll asked 952 Republicans and 225 independents who lean Republican from all over the country to choose from 15 well-known conservative politicians or to pick “someone else” or “not sure.”
The current vice president, Vance, was the clear winner, with 36% of people choosing him. He got almost twice as many votes as Donald Trump Jr., who came in second with 19%. Another 14% said they weren’t sure, bringing the total to 70% of all respondents.
But both Vance and Trump Jr. lost some support since a similar October Voters’ Voice Poll. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the other hand, gained ground.
Rubio only got 9% of the vote, but he was the third choice on the list and the second most popular candidate among independent voters.
This comes as President Trump asked a group of donors at his Mar-a-Lago estate for their thoughts about Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“What do you think of JD Vance and Marco Rubio?” Trump asked, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to sources who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, donors applauded loudly for Rubio. The applause for Rubio was reportedly louder than the reaction for Vance. The informal poll came one day after Trump placed Rubio prominently in the administration’s public posture.
Trump noted Monday during a press conference in Florida that Vance had been “less enthusiastic” about going to war with Iran. Trump also described differences in the way the two men approach politics and diplomacy.
“He gets a little bit tough on occasion; we gotta slow him down on occasion,” Trump said about Vance.
Trump then contrasted that approach with Rubio’s style.
“Then we have the opposite extreme,” Trump said.
“Marco does it with a velvet glove. But it’s a kill,” Trump said.
Despite the strong reaction from donors, a recent poll suggests Vance may hold greater influence among voters.
A survey conducted by the Daily Mail and JL Partners between March 2 and March 3 asked voters which figures have the most influence in Trump’s inner circle.
Vance led the poll with 19 percent. Rubio received 12 percent. Stephen Miller and Donald Trump Jr. were tied for third place. The poll surveyed 1,020 registered voters and had a margin of error of 3.1 percent.
The same survey found Rubio’s approval rating declined from 40 percent in February to 36 percent on Friday.
Thirty four percent of respondents said they disapproved of Rubio. Seventeen percent said they were neutral.
Fourteen percent said they were unsure.
Both Vance and Rubio have rejected suggestions that they are rivals. Vance addressed the issue during a February interview with Fox News.
“Marco is my closest friend in the administration,” Vance said.
“I think it’s so interesting the media wants to create this conflict where there just isn’t any conflict,” Vance said.
Rubio also addressed speculation about a possible 2028 presidential race. Rubio told Vanity Fair last year that if Vance runs for president in 2028 he would support him.
“If he runs for president in 2028, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio said.
Nearly 150,000 California Mail Ballots Rejected In Primary
California election officials are examining why nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the state’s June primary, with late-arriving ballots accounting for most of the increase.
The higher rejection rate comes despite years of election law changes designed to make voting more accessible and ensure more ballots are ultimately counted.
According to data compiled by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail-in ballots were rejected during the June primary, representing 1.73% of all mail ballots returned.
That marks an increase from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 ballots were rejected, or 1.56% of all mail ballots cast.
The largest reason for rejection was ballots arriving too late to qualify under California law.
State data shows that 93,479 ballots were rejected because they failed to meet the state’s deadline requirements.
California allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting experts believe many of the rejected ballots received postmarks dated after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted even if they arrived within the seven-day grace period.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the timing of postal processing appears to be a significant concern.
“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander said.
Election experts have questioned whether recent operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service may be contributing to delayed postmarks.
Earlier this year, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators wrote to the Postal Service expressing concern that mail-processing changes could affect ballot handling during federal elections.
Updated Postal Service procedures mean postmarks may reflect when mail is processed at regional facilities rather than when it first enters the mail system.
Because processing centers have been consolidated in some areas, election officials have warned that postmark timing could be affected.
Before the June primary, California election officials encouraged voters to mail ballots as early as possible because of potential postal delays.
The June election also featured a highly competitive race for governor, which some experts believe encouraged many voters to wait until the final days before casting ballots.
In addition to late-arriving ballots, approximately 44,000 ballots were rejected because election officials determined the voter’s signature did not match the signature on file.
Another 8,300 ballots were rejected because the return envelope did not contain a signature.
State records also show that 743 ballots were rejected because those voters had already cast another ballot.
Other rejected ballots involved missing ballots inside return envelopes or multiple ballots submitted in a single envelope.
The highest rejection rate in the state occurred in Tulare County, where 3.52% of returned mail ballots were rejected.
Alpine County and Merced County followed closely, each recording rejection rates of 3.36%.
California has frequently faced criticism for taking weeks to complete vote counting after major elections, largely because state law permits ballots meeting certain requirements to continue arriving after Election Day.
Following the June primary, President Donald Trump again criticized California’s election system, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into election administration in Los Angeles County.
Election experts emphasize that the increase in rejected ballots should not be interpreted as evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found documented cases of mail ballot fraud remained extremely rare, estimating roughly four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast, The Associated Press reported.
State officials have not identified evidence of widespread fraud connected to the June primary, but the increase in rejected ballots is expected to receive additional scrutiny as election administrators evaluate whether changes in postal operations, voter behavior or election procedures contributed to the higher rejection rate.
