With former president and current president-elect Trump’s term limited and constitutionally barred from running for the White House again in 2028, Vice President-elect JD Vance is well on his way to becoming the successor to the America First movement and the Republican Party. Powerful MAGA bass.
That was a point emphasized by Donald Trump Jr., the former and future president’s eldest son and a strong ally of the vice president-elect.
“We get 4 more years of Trump and 8 more years of JD Vance!” Trump Jr. said this while campaigning in Ohio just weeks before the November election.
Many Republican politicians, strategists and experts agree that Vance, who was elected to the Ohio Senate just two years ago, is likely to be the clear front-runner in the next Republican presidential primary.
Here are the Democrats running for the White House in 2028:
Senator JD Vance and former President Trump speak during Election Night celebrations at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The vice president will sit in the cat seat. There’s no question about that.” Dave Carney, a longtime Republican consultant, told Fox News Digital.
Carney, a veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns over the past four decades, said Vance is “the guy who can beat.”
David Kochel, another longtime Republican strategist with extensive experience in presidential campaigns, told Fox News that Vance was the front-runner because of “the size and scope of last week’s victory and the implications of Donald Trump passing the torch.”
“Not many people will see it. But most people watching this are seeing Trump’s victory and the relative strength of the movement,” Kochel said.
Former President Trump greets Senator JD Vance during election night celebrations in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024. (AP/Evan Bucci)
And with Trump’s support in a party firmly controlled by the president-elect, the 40-year-old Vance will be extremely difficult to topple.
But Kochel said, “No one is going to completely follow J.D. Vance. There will be a contest. “It’s always there.”
“There may be other people challenging him (Vance)…” Carney said. “There are many people who want to become president, but it will be a very difficult route, different from the Trump route,” he added.
He added that the four difficult years of the Trump/Vance administration will give potential Vance challengers “an opportunity.”
But he praised the vice president-elect’s message and approachability on the campaign trail, saying, “He’s a guy who can win, whether it’s a good four years or a tough four years.”
Carney also touted the Republican Party as having a “deep bench.”
“I’m very excited about where the Republican Party is right now,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, a top Trump ally, said in a recent Fox News digital interview.
“As we move into 2028, we are well-positioned to continue the momentum of this agenda and movement,” Whatley added, pointing to Trump’s overhaul of the Republican Party.
But he also emphasized that the RNC will maintain its traditional role of remaining neutral in open and competitive presidential primaries, regardless of the possibility of Vance becoming the front-runner as 2028 approaches.
Let’s take a look at some of those who may have national aspirations and ambitions in 2028 and beyond.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves on stage during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Elizabeth Franz)
The conservative Florida governor was flying high after a landslide re-election in 2022, but a failed 2024 presidential primary and bitter battle with Trump have sunk Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ standing.
But the 46-year-old term-limited governor, who has two years remaining in his term running Florida, has proven his fundraising prowess over the past few years and maintains a large following across the country.
DeSantis was also able to somewhat repair his relationship with Trump, helped raise money for the GOP ticket during the general election and earned him a prime-time speaking slot at the convention in July.
President Trump has considered a Plan B for Secretary of Defense if his nominee, Pete Hegseth, runs into trouble, the people said.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp stands for his first interview with Fox News Digital since being elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association on November 20, 2024, in Marco Island, Florida. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
The popular conservative governor is one of the few in the Republican Party who can claim to have not only survived but thrived in the face of Trump’s wrath.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who is term-limited, has two years left in his term and is receiving strong favorable reviews in a key battleground state.
Kemp, 61, is expected to be seen on the national campaign trail for fellow Republicans in 2026 as his national profile expands.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks before former President Trump at a campaign rally in Salem, Virginia, on November 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
With a Virginia Republican winning the 2021 gubernatorial election for the first time in 12 years, Gov. Glenn Youngkin immediately became a rising star in the Republican Party.
The Virginia governor’s term is limited to one four-year term. This means there is one year left in Youngkin’s term.
The 58-year-old governor, who comes from a Republican family but was able to succeed in a MAGA-dominated party, likely harbors national ambitions.
The first step could be a second Trump administration Cabinet position after his term as governor ends.
Senator Ted Cruz (Texas)
Republican Senator Ted Cruz sits for an interview with Fox News Digital on May 9, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Senator Ted Cruz finished second to Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential race.
The controversial conservative firebrand has given up trying to challenge Trump again in 2024, running in what is seen as another difficult re-election bid after Trump barely survived re-election in 2018.
But the 53-year-old senator won for the third time in his six-year term in the Senate by nearly 9 points.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton
Senator Tom Cotton is interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 20, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
The Army veteran, who became a rising star in Republican politics after serving in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been considered on the list of potential Trump running mates.
Sen. Tom Cotton, now 47, was seriously considering running the White House in 2024 before deciding against it in late 2022, putting his young family ahead of his political ambitions. However, he did not rule out running for president in the future.
Cotton is currently bidding to become chairman of the Republican Conference, which ranks third in the next Senate Republican majority.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley
Senator Josh Hawley at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, March 1, 2024. (Tom Williams)
Sen. Josh Hawley, 44, is another rising conservative star in the Senate, along with Cotton.
Hawley is also a strong defender of Trump’s America First agenda and is thought to have national aspirations.
Former Ambassador Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley speaks at the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. (Pedro Ugarte/AFP, courtesy of Getty Images)
The two-term former governor of South Carolina, who served as UN ambassador in Trump’s first term, was the first Republican challenger to compete against the former president in the 2024 presidential primary.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley outlasted the rest of the field and became Trump’s final challenger before ending her White House run in March.
Although Haley, 52, ended up supporting Trump in the general election, her clashes with the current president-elect during her early primaries left their mark. Although she addressed Republican supporters at the convention, her political future in the Trump-dominated party is uncertain.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appears on stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Getty Images)
Arkansas’ first conservative governor is a well-known figure in MAGA circles, thanks to his longest-serving White House press secretary in Trump’s first administration.
Sanders, 42, the daughter of former Arkansas governor and former two-time presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, also garnered national attention for delivering the Republican response to President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address.
Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy gives a thumbs up at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
The billionaire biotech entrepreneur, restless activist and first-time candidate has been one of the most surprising figures in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Vivek Ramaswamy, now 39, touted himself and Trump during his campaign as the only two “America First candidates” in a wide field of competition, but eventually dropped out of the race and became a major Republican donor and surrogate. Former President.
He currently heads DOGE, a new presidential advisory council that will work with billionaire Trump supporter and friend Elon Musk to make deep cuts to the federal budget.
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Other items to note are: sen. Marco RubioShe ran for the nomination in 2016 and was nominated to serve as Secretary of State during the second Trump administration. Senator Tim Scott A South Carolina native who lost the 2024 nomination but remains popular; and Senator Rick Scott Florida native and former Secretary of State Mike PompeoWhoever thought about both but decided to oppose the president ran in the last cycle.
Also impossible to ignore – top Trump supporter Congressman Byron Donald with Florida Rep. Elise Stefanik New York and South Dakota nominated by Trump to be U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations Governor Kristi Noem, Person appointed as Secretary of Homeland Security
Then there Donald Trump Jr.., the eldest son of the president-elect and a MAGA warrior. But the younger Trump is so close to Vance that it’s likely he won’t be part of a White House bid next cycle.
Get the latest updates on the 2024 campaign tracking, exclusive interviews and more from the Fox News digital election hub..
