Ron DeSantis ‘most electable’ in 2028 GOP poll, but not first choice

Republicans don’t want to vote for Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But they think others might.

That’s the takeaway from the latest Yale Youth Poll, which shows both Gov. Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Marco Rubio mired in the mid single digits at 6% and 5%, respectively, far behind the 51% backing Vice President JD Vance for first-choice support.

But when the survey asked respondents who is more “electable,” the Governor and the nation’s leading diplomat are in better shape.

“In a MaxDiff test, Republicans viewed DeSantis (79%) and Vance (75%) as the most electable against a hypothetical Democrat in a General Election, followed by Rubio (71%) and Donald Trump Jr. (67%); results did not differ significantly between younger Republicans and all Republicans,” Yale notes.

The result here, particularly for DeSantis, could bolster the hopes of those who want him to run to succeed term-limited Donald Trump in 2028.

The Governor keeps getting that question from reporters but tells them he’s not looking, saying he has his “hands full” and that he’s “not thinking about anything” regarding his next political move.

Rubio is also an also-ran in the polls, compared to Vance.

However, President Donald Trump seems to think Rubio and Vance would be a functional ticket, one that could clear the still-evolving field of his potential successors.

“I’m not sure if anybody would run against those two. I think if they formed a group, it would be unstoppable,” the President said, according to POLITICO Playbook.