Elections
The 2028 GOP Primary — Very Early, Very Real
Vance, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Youngkin, Noem. Marshall K. read the FEC filings and talked to the whip counters.
September 7, 2026·8 min read·By Marshall K.
The 2028 primary calendar isn't set. The FEC filings are.
The declared and undeclared
- JD Vance (VP) — The favourite by default. Ex officio incumbent-adjacent. FEC filings show a Vance-affiliated PAC with $34m in Q3 2026 receipts.
- Ron DeSantis (Governor, FL) — Term-limited out January 2027. His PAC raised $28m in Q3. Read Courage to Be Free — DeSantis's post-primary book still sells 40k copies a month.
- Vivek Ramaswamy (Ohio Governor) — Sworn in January 2027 after a landslide. His book Woke Inc. did the ideological groundwork; the governorship is doing the executive-experience groundwork.
- Glenn Youngkin (ex-Governor, VA) — Out of office but well-networked. Chairs the Heritage Foundation transition.
- Kristi Noem (Secretary of Homeland Security) — The dark horse. Cabinet visibility, base credibility, a clear border-hawk lane.
The Vance lane
Vance has the machinery. He has Hillbilly Elegy as biography, the Vice Presidency as credential, and Trump as endorser-in-waiting. If Trump endorses him early, this is a 12-month coronation.
The DeSantis lane
DeSantis still has Florida. He still has the Culture-Warrior donor class. And he has a $28m warchest that can survive a full 2027 calendar without needing to raise.
2028 PrimaryVanceDeSantisRamaswamy