A new Reuters/Ipsos poll has put four names at the front of American voters' minds when they think about the 2028 White House race: Republicans JD Vance and Marco Rubio, and Democrats Jon Ossoff and Pete Buttigieg.
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they → put → race
None of the four has formally entered the race, and the parties' 2028 nominating contests remain more than a year away.
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contests → enter → race
That leaves ample time for fresh contenders to surface and for voters to change their minds.
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voters → leave → minds
Among Republican voters polled, about 45% said Secretary of State Rubio would be an "excellent" presidential candidate, while 43% said the same of Vice President Vance.
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% → poll → Vance
Among Republican voters polled, some 45% said they believed Secretary of State Rubio would be an "excellent" presidential candidate, while 43% said the same of Democratic voters.
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% → poll → voters
The poll was completed on Monday and surveyed 1,705 US adults nationwide, including roughly 500 registered voters from each party.
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poll → complete → party
President Donald Trump looms large in both parties as he struggles with an approval rating near the lowest of his career.
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he → loom → career
Republicans are split on whether their preferred candidate should break with Trump or follow in his footsteps.
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candidate → split → footsteps
Democrats, who are flying high after routing Republicans in the November 3 congressional elections, are divided on how aggressively to go after the president, such as through impeachment.
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who → fly → impeachment
'Managed to do his job'
Trump has been quizzing allies on whom they prefer between Vance and Rubio.
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they → manage → Vance
In a Sunday interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," he said he would "not necessarily" endorse anyone in the Republican primary.
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he → say → primary
Barbara Rezner, a Florida attorney who voted for Trump in the last three presidential elections, prefers Rubio to Vance, whom she considers too far right and too close to the president.
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she → vote → president
"Rubio has managed to do his job.
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Rubio → manage → job
He's stayed off most people's radar because he hasn't done anything too far left, too far right, too crazy," Rezner said.
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Rezner → stay → anything
Among Republicans, the modest but growing dissatisfaction with Trump is centered on the president's decision to launch a war on Iran that has driven fuel prices higher.
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that → grow → prices
Vance has shown signs of wanting to distance himself as well, saying publicly that the Republican drubbing in the midterm elections was due to the war with Iran.
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drubbing → show → Iran
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is among the best-regarded, with 32% of Republicans rating him as an excellent option.
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% → regard → option
Others, such as Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. and Texas US Senator Ted Cruz, have their fans but also many detractors.
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Others → have → fans
Ossoff sits at the top of many Democratic voters' lists, with 29% of the party's registered voters rating him as excellent.
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% → sit → him
He has grabbed headlines in recent months by calling Trump corrupt and unfit for office in unusually direct language.
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He → grab → language
Last week Ossoff won his re-election race by 18 percentage points in Georgia, a state Trump carried by 2 points in 2024.
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Trump → win → 2024
Buttigieg also gets the excellent rating from 29% of Democrats.
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Buttigieg → get → Democrats
He ran for president in 2020 and is better known nationally than Ossoff.
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He → run → Ossoff
About one in five Democrats say they have never heard of Buttigieg, compared with roughly one in three who say the same about Ossoff.
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who → say → Ossoff
Very few Republicans are unfamiliar with Vance, but about one in six say they don't know who Rubio is.
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Rubio → say → Vance
For candidates in either party, starting the election cycle with more name recognition can save money that would otherwise be spent getting the candidate's name out.
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that → start → name
But examples abound of little-known candidates catching fire during the campaign, as happened with former President Bill Clinton.
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candidates → abound → Clinton
The Aporia
