College Republicans Snub Vance and Rubio for Surprise 2028 Pick - Newsweek

A former Trump aide emerged as the surprise favorite for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination in two college straw polls, beating Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

John McEntee came out on top in polls by college Republicans at the University of Tennessee and Pennsylvania State University. The Tennessee straw poll placed McEntee at 31.3 percent support for president in 2028, Rubio at 29.7 percent, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 23.4 percent, and Vance at 15.6 percent.

The results underscore the fluid state of the still-distant 2028 Republican primary field, where no clear successor to President Donald Trump has emerged. Although campus straw polls represent a small, unrepresentative slice of the GOP electorate, McEntee's victories over higher-profile figures including Vance, Rubio and DeSantis suggest he has built a following among some younger Republican activists as early jockeying for the party's post-Trump future begins.

“McEntee has quietly become the favorite of the youth, closely followed by Rubio,” College Republicans at Tennessee said in a Wednesday post on X.

McEntee took an even greater lead among Pennsylvania State University students, who gave the former aide 42 percent in their GOP presidential primary straw poll. Rubio and DeSantis followed with 23 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie garnered 11 percent support, while Vance was given 8 percent.

Penn State College Republicans described their results as a “shocking upset” in a Thursday X post.

Newsweek reached out to McEntee for comment via a contact form on his website on Friday.

McEntee previously served as Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office during President Donald Trump’s first administration and is a co-founder of conservative dating app The Right Stuff. He worked as a senior adviser for the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 initiative, according to his website.

He also posts regular short-form political commentary videos to TikTok, where he has more than 3 million followers.

The former Trump aide has previously attracted criticism for some of his social media content, such as a viral 2024 X post in which he joked about removing the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote. That post now appears to be unavailable on the platform.

McEntee also drew mixed reactions earlier that year following a viral TikTok video in which he said he gives fake money to homeless people, so they get arrested when they use it. The video’s caption emphasized it was “just a joke.”

Following last week’s midterms, which saw Republicans lose their majorities in both chambers of Congress, attention now turns to who will lead the GOP in the 2028 presidential election.

McEntee is rated fourth on betting platform Kalshi’s market for the 2028 Republican presidential nominee, as of early Friday afternoon.

As of publication, traders on the platform gave him a 5.3 percent chance, behind Vance, Rubio, and DeSantis, who stood at 34 percent, 18 percent, and 15 percent, respectively.

Polymarket, another betting platform, put Vance ahead, with 32 percent. Rubio followed at 18 percent, then DeSantis at 16 percent.

Conservative media personality Tucker Carlson and McEntee were both given a 4 percent chance.

Vance also led in a poll of preferred Republican presidential candidates by The Economist/YouGov with 40 percent. Rubio, DeSantis, and Trump followed, with 33 percent, 14 percent, and 9 percent, respectively. The results were part of a survey conducted November 9–11 2026, among 1685 U.S. citizens. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Meanwhile, an AtlasIntel survey placed Rubio ahead of Vance among Republicans, 45.6 percent to 32.9 percent. The full poll was conducted among 3,566 respondents from October 28 to November 1 and had a 2-point margin of error.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton, Gray R. Thomas