WJ Straw Poll: Thomas Massie Takes the Lead This Week, But We're Not Buying It
Rep. Thomas Massie surged into first place in last week’s Western Journal presidential straw poll, but we’re taking the results with an entire shaker of salt.
Massie, who has polled in the single digits or low double digits since we began tracking sentiment about who will lead the GOP in 2028, received 47.8 percent of the vote for the week ending Aug. 23.
That represented a jump of 35.1 percentage points from the previous week’s 12.7 percent — or did it?
🇺🇸 The votes are counted — here’s this week’s GOP 2028 straw poll (Aug. 17-23):
Thomas Massie – 47.8%
Marco Rubio – 25.7%
JD Vance – 14%
Ron DeSantis – 5.1%
Donald J. Trump – 4.9%
Other – 2.4%Submit a new vote each week at The Western Journal’s https://t.co/Ki7pr0dk70… pic.twitter.com/aZLs4VklQ6
— The Western Journal (@WesternJournalX) August 24, 2026
This apparent outlier poll prompted a bit of an investigation, which led us to Massie’s X account.
It appears the results of the non-scientific, weekly poll were manipulated by supporters of the Kentucky Republican.
Massie shared our poll two days before the results were locked in.
now I see why the President posted like an angry girlfriend last night… https://t.co/FKh9VGuour
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 23, 2026
Nearly 130,000 people saw the post, and some vowed to put their hands on the scale to put the outgoing congressman on top
It has you in 3rd right now. We gotta boost those numbers. Rubio is israel first and vance is india first. pic.twitter.com/b1lKhi5O60
— Chris (@greatironchris) August 23, 2026
A distrustful Massie supporter by the name Joey appeared to believe that The Western Journal has the means and the desire to go after people in some manner for making the “wrong” selection:
If you don’t think you’re going to be targeted for making the “wrong selection” then you don’t understand why they want your email.
— Joey (@JoeyBlowey1) August 24, 2026
Disclaimer: The Western Journal has no intent to “get” people who vote in our survey, and there is no wrong answer in a weekly straw poll intended to track who conservatives see as the GOP standard-bearer going forward. The straw poll is completely safe.
In any event, with an unlikely and massive jump in support, it appears as though Massie supporters were successful in manipulating the results of this week’s straw poll.
The poll otherwise found that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the previous week’s poll, fell to second place with 25.7 percent.
Vice President J.D. Vance also saw his support decline, finishing third with 14 percent. That was down 10.3 percentage points from the previous week’s 24.3 percent.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis remained in fourth place at 5.1 percent, slipping 1.1 percentage points from his previous total of 6.2 percent.
President Donald Trump received 4.9 percent of the vote, down 3.1 percentage points from the 8 percent he received the previous week.
All other candidates combined for 2.4 percent, down slightly from 2.7 percent the week before. Candidates receiving less than 2 percent are grouped into the “Other” category.
Last week’s poll and other recent surveys have all found Rubio in the driver’s seat, with Vance not far behind.
🇺🇸 Straw poll RESULTS are in for the week of Aug. 10-16 — here’s how the GOP 2028 field stacks up:
Marco Rubio – 46.1%
JD Vance – 24.3%
Thomas Massie – 12.7%
Donald J. Trump – 8%
Ron DeSantis – 6.2%
Other – 2.7%Submit a new vote each week at The Western Journal’s… pic.twitter.com/zoZuys10G1
— The Western Journal (@WesternJournalX) August 17, 2026
According to an internal analysis of this past week’s results, had there not been a sudden spike in support for Massie, we strongly believe the results of this week’s survey would have been:
- Rubio: 44 percent
- Vance: 23 percent
- Massie: 13-15 percent
- Trump: 8 percent
- DeSantis: 7 percent
You can safely participate in this week’s straw poll by clicking here.
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