WJ Straw Poll: Rubio Opens Up a Big Lead, Support for Massie Jumps
Secretary of State Marco Rubio extended his lead in The Western Journal’s latest GOP 2028 Presidential Straw Poll, while Rep. Thomas Massie posted the largest gain among the leading candidates.
Rubio received 39.1 percent of the vote in the latest survey, which covered the week of Sept. 14-20.
That was an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the previous week, when Rubio received 37 percent and held a 10.8-point lead over the second most popular potential candidate.
Vice President J.D. Vance finished second in the weekly, non-scientific poll with 23.7 percent support.
The VP’s support was down 2.5 points from the previous week, when he had the support of 26.2 percent of respondents.
The latest results put Rubio’s lead over Vance at 15.4 points, compared with 10.8 points the previous week.
The results are in for The Western Journal’s 2028 GOP Straw Poll! 🇺🇸 Here’s where the candidates stand for Sept. 14–20th:
Marco Rubio – 39.1%
JD Vance – 23.7%
Thomas Massie – 18.8%
Donald J. Trump – 7.4%
Ron DeSantis – 6.2%
Other – 4.9%Where does your pick stand? Make your… pic.twitter.com/8iD85vQjyx
— The Western Journal (@WesternJournalX) September 21, 2026
The two battled for the top spot earlier this year repeatedly when The Western Journal first launched the weekly survey.
Rubio has consistently outperformed Vance in recent months.
Massie, a Republican from Kentucky who lost his primary earlier this year, recorded the largest increase among the candidates this week and came in third again.
He received 18.8 percent, a gain of 5.1 points from the previous week’s 13.7 percent.
Massie’s support has fluctuated considerably in recent weeks. He briefly surged to the top of the poll in August before falling back to third place as Rubio and Vance moved ahead of him.
President Donald Trump received a 7.4 percent share of the vote this week, which was down 2.2 points from the previous week’s 9.6 percent.
Trump is constitutionally limited to two terms and is not a candidate for another presidential term in 2028, but he has continued to draw significant support in the weekly straw poll.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finished fifth with 6.2 percent, which was down 0.8 points from his previous 7 percent.
The votes are in! 🇺🇸 Here’s this week’s GOP 2028 straw poll (Sept 7th-13th):
Marco Rubio – 37%
JD Vance – 26.2%
Thomas Massie – 13.7%
Donald J. Trump – 9.6%
Ron DeSantis – 7%
Other – 4.1%
Cast your vote for this week’s poll at The Western Journal’s… pic.twitter.com/ibBrUa8mxC— The Western Journal (@WesternJournalX) September 14, 2026
The “Other” category, which includes candidates receiving less than 2 percent individually, accounted for 4.9 percent of the vote.
That was up from 4.1 percent the previous week.
The Western Journal will continue tracking reader sentiment about the potential 2028 Republican field until Republican primary voters have the opportunity to cast ballots at the polls.
If you would like to make your voice heard in this week’s survey, you can do so by clicking here.
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