MAGA voters are already looking past the midterm wreckage and sizing up who should lead the Republican Party into 2028 — and two names keep coming up: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Fox News Digital spoke with Trump supporters at a rally in Bangor, Maine, one of the president's final stops before Tuesday's midterms, which ended with Democrats taking control of both chambers of Congress. According to the outlet's reporting, voters interviewed at the event repeatedly named Vance and Rubio as their early favorites to succeed President Donald Trump.
"I like [Rubio]," one American told Fox News Digital. "I like that he's no-nonsense, similar to Trump."
Another voter put it plainly: "Well, I like JD Vance obviously. I like Marco Rubio. There's some other ones, too, that are maybe not so much mainstream that are coming up that I like too."
The comparison between the two men was a recurring theme. One supporter leaned toward the Secretary of State on experience grounds: "JD is great too, but Rubio has a little more experience. He's articulate, he's well-spoken. He's got good ideas. I just really like him."
Fox News posted a clip from the rally to X, noting that the two names "keep coming up" among MAGA voters already weighing the party's future.
WATCH: MAGA voters are already weighing in on who they want to lead the Republican Party in 2028, and two names keep coming up: JD Vance and Marco Rubio. Fox News Digital spoke with Trump supporters at a rally in Bangor, Maine, where several pointed to the vice president and the secretary of state. — @FoxNews on X
The interviews reflect a movement that, despite Tuesday's losses, is not looking backward. One voter told Fox News Digital: "I'm really open to see who can fill Trump's footsteps, not just the next person in line."
The midterm results themselves were brutal for Republicans. Fox News Digital reported that anger over high costs and the war with Iran drove Americans to oust Trump's agenda from congressional control, handing Democrats large majorities in the House and Senate. The outlet described the outcome as a "stunning blue wave."
With Democrats poised to rebuke the president and his allies on Capitol Hill, the conversation among Trump's base has shifted to the next nomination fight. Beyond Vance and Rubio, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis surfaced in the Fox News Digital interviews as another possibility. DeSantis, who has tried to distance himself from Tuesday's results, praised Florida at a Wednesday news conference for keeping the state under GOP control — suggesting his governance was a reason Florida Republicans held on.
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri have also been floated in early 2028 discussions, according to the outlet. No major Republican contender has formally announced a campaign, though the close of the midterms has brought the party's next nomination into sharper focus.
Not every voter Fox News Digital spoke with was ready to choose between Vance and Rubio; some Trump supporters stopped short of picking a favorite. And the sample is small — interviews at a single rally, not a poll. But the names that surfaced match the early chatter inside the party, where the vice president's loyalists and the secretary of state's admirers are both making their cases.
For everyday Americans, the stakes are concrete. The next Republican nominee will inherit a party fresh off a midterm defeat, a Democratic Congress, and a base that expects the America First agenda to continue without apology. Whether that means the man a heartbeat from the presidency or the diplomat who has carried Trump's foreign policy to the world stage is the question GOP voters will begin answering in the months ahead.
Our Take
Here's what the establishment — and the legacy media that cheerled the blue wave — doesn't want to admit: the MAGA movement isn't looking for a caretaker. It's looking for a fighter who will pick up Trump's banner and swing it.
JD Vance has spent his vice presidency doing exactly what Trump voters asked for — taking the fights to the media, to the globalists, and to the deep state — and he has earned the loyalty of the base. Marco Rubio has the experience and the articulation, and his tenure at State has reminded conservatives why they liked him in the first place. Both are credible heirs to the America First legacy, and the fact that voters at a Trump rally are already debating the two of them shows the movement is alive and thinking about the future, not mourning the past.
But let's be honest about what Tuesday was: a rebuke, driven by pain at the grocery store and a war the American people were never sold on. The next nominee, whether it's Vance, Rubio, or someone else, will have to answer for that — and will have to convince voters that the GOP can deliver lower prices, secure borders, and an end to foreign entanglements without losing an ounce of the fighting spirit that built this coalition.
The 2028 primary starts now. Patriots, who do you want carrying the torch? Let us know — and watch who actually shows up to fight when the Democrats come for Trump's legacy.
