TPUSA Attendees Rally Around JD Vance At AmFest

If the 2028 Republican primary were held at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, Vice President JD Vance would already have the nomination locked down.

Vance dominated the TPUSA straw poll at the annual convention in Arizona, winning approximately 85% of the vote. That landslide victory put him far ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who came in second with just 5%. Vance’s margin of victory was even greater than President Trump’s showing in the 2023 straw poll.

The numbers backed up what attendees were saying all weekend. Nearly every college student interviewed by The Daily Wire said they’d support Vance in 2028 without hesitation.

“Is the grass green?” asked Nickolas Peter when asked about his support. “JD Vance represents the greatest conservative movement in over 40 years. One that prioritizes Main Street over Wall Street, one that prioritizes the exceptional American culture.”

The crowd at AmFest gave Vance a hero’s welcome when he took the stage, erupting into chants of “JD Vance” and “U.S.A.”

Despite the energy, Vance has signaled he won’t make any decisions about 2028 until after the 2026 midterm elections. “I’m very focused on the midterm elections. Then after that, I’m going to sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it.”

Vance has repeatedly said he’s committed to doing the job he was elected to do and doesn’t want to be seen as rushing to the next position.

“Americans are fed up with folks who are already running for the next job, seven months into the current one,” he said.

While he’s widely seen as the frontrunner if he runs, Vance was quick to say he doesn’t view Rubio or anyone else as a rival.

“I don’t feel like that at all…Marco is a colleague,” he said. “If Marco eventually runs for president, then we can cross that bridge when we come to it…it’s a long ways in the future.”

Until then, he says his focus is simple: “I’m going to try to do my best job, and I think if I do that, the politics will figure itself out.”

The straw poll also revealed broad support among TPUSA attendees for Trump’s cabinet and his foreign policy direction. Nearly 90% said they view Israel as an ally, and a similar number said radical Islam is the biggest threat to the United States. Cabinet officials Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and Kristi Noem each received over 90% approval from the crowd.