2028 forecast · Virginia · Republican primary

Virginia Republican primary

Projected shares and votes from county primary electorates built from our national dataset, simulated on the calendar with momentum and dropouts.

RubioFavorite, wins 53% of runs
33.8%Rubio's projected share
1,100,123Projected primary votes
2Calendar window: votes second, with Super Tuesday

Candidates

4,000 primary runs
CandidateShareVotesWinFull field
Rubio33.8%371,97453%26.0%
Vance32.0%352,63844%28.9%
Trump Jr.13.3%146,0592%7.9%
DeSantis5.4%59,093<1%5.5%
Haley4.6%50,3071%5.0%
Kennedy Jr.1.7%18,552<1%3.5%

Share and votes average the simulated races, including dropouts before Virginia votes. Full field is the share if every candidate were still running. Undecided and minor candidates hold about 9%.

County leaders

deeper shade, bigger share
VanceRubioTrump Jr.

Who votes in this primary

our national dataset, placed in Virginia
America First37%
Suburban professional20%
Populist working class15%
Republican leaning independents11%
Libertarian10%
Moderate independents3%

Black 4.6%, Hispanic 4.3%, Asian and other 3.7%, under 30 8.9%, 65 and up 32.4%, college graduates 51.1%, women 44.8%.

Turnout

projected 2028 votes

The last open Republican contest, in 2016, cast 1,025,452 votes in a primary. 2028 is modeled as a primary, blending that count with the participation model and growing it for 2028: 1,100,123 votes.

Every county

largest first
CountyVotesLeaderShareSecondShare
Fairfax County132,528Rubio56.9%Vance17.2%
Virginia Beach city55,267Rubio42.4%Vance28.8%
Loudoun County55,191Rubio53.6%Vance19.9%
Prince William County50,621Rubio40.4%Vance27.8%
Chesterfield County49,533Rubio37.5%Vance31.4%
Henrico County38,181Rubio38.5%Vance30.3%
Arlington County29,847Rubio65.6%Haley12.3%
Chesapeake city28,932Vance36.8%Rubio27.0%
Richmond city20,887Rubio49.6%Vance22.0%
Hanover County20,778Vance37.6%Rubio31.1%
Stafford County20,237Rubio36.7%Vance31.4%
Spotsylvania County20,211Vance37.1%Rubio28.6%
Alexandria city17,478Rubio62.6%Vance11.4%
Norfolk city16,727Rubio32.8%Vance32.4%
Albemarle County16,298Rubio55.9%Vance18.2%
Roanoke County15,971Vance39.3%Rubio28.8%
Bedford County15,877Vance45.5%Trump Jr.20.1%
Frederick County15,149Vance42.0%Rubio22.5%
Rockingham County14,664Vance43.9%Rubio18.9%
Newport News city14,660Vance35.6%Rubio24.5%
Augusta County13,748Vance45.9%Trump Jr.22.2%
James City County12,820Rubio44.1%Vance28.3%
Fauquier County12,741Vance36.9%Rubio31.3%
Montgomery County12,295Rubio46.8%Vance25.6%
Hampton city10,974Vance36.0%Trump Jr.21.5%
Suffolk city10,853Vance37.1%Rubio22.7%
York County10,183Rubio39.3%Vance31.4%
Pittsylvania County9,519Vance43.1%Trump Jr.31.7%
Washington County9,476Vance46.5%Trump Jr.21.7%
Franklin County9,452Vance45.8%Trump Jr.22.7%
Roanoke city9,425Vance37.6%Rubio27.6%
Campbell County9,230Vance45.1%Trump Jr.25.2%
Lynchburg city8,735Vance38.3%Rubio23.8%
Culpeper County7,829Vance42.2%Trump Jr.20.6%
Shenandoah County7,445Vance45.5%Trump Jr.23.4%
Portsmouth city7,213Vance36.5%Trump Jr.23.4%
Gloucester County6,828Vance44.5%Trump Jr.20.1%
Botetourt County6,797Vance45.3%Trump Jr.18.4%
Tazewell County6,765Vance45.5%Trump Jr.30.2%
Henry County6,761Vance43.1%Trump Jr.30.6%
Warren County6,725Vance43.6%Trump Jr.18.8%
Louisa County6,658Vance44.3%Trump Jr.19.4%
Isle of Wight County6,379Vance41.9%Rubio20.0%
Powhatan County6,374Vance42.9%Rubio21.8%
Orange County6,141Vance43.7%Trump Jr.19.1%
Wise County5,502Vance45.3%Trump Jr.29.7%
Carroll County5,447Vance46.1%Trump Jr.28.6%
Pulaski County5,396Vance46.0%Trump Jr.24.1%
Goochland County5,344Vance38.5%Rubio28.9%
Charlottesville city5,258Rubio60.9%Vance13.1%
Wythe County5,091Vance46.4%Trump Jr.26.6%
Amherst County4,810Vance44.5%Trump Jr.22.8%
Smyth County4,766Vance46.1%Trump Jr.28.0%
New Kent County4,748Vance41.8%Rubio22.1%
Russell County4,623Vance45.2%Trump Jr.31.3%
Fluvanna County4,335Vance38.9%Rubio28.2%
Page County4,245Vance45.8%Trump Jr.28.1%
Caroline County4,239Vance42.4%Trump Jr.24.7%
Halifax County4,210Vance42.0%Trump Jr.31.0%
Prince George County4,208Vance40.6%Trump Jr.24.2%
Harrisonburg city4,188Rubio45.5%Vance25.7%
King George County4,182Vance42.1%Rubio20.4%
Accomack County4,178Vance43.1%Trump Jr.25.6%
Mecklenburg County3,911Vance42.7%Trump Jr.29.4%
Dinwiddie County3,856Vance42.0%Trump Jr.29.1%
Scott County3,824Vance45.3%Trump Jr.30.5%
Manassas city3,795Rubio39.0%Vance28.4%
Rockbridge County3,774Vance44.8%Rubio19.6%
Salem city3,659Vance41.2%Rubio24.6%
Lee County3,470Vance44.6%Trump Jr.32.4%
Staunton city3,416Rubio40.8%Vance31.3%
Greene County3,403Vance40.8%Rubio25.3%
Danville city3,297Vance38.6%Trump Jr.29.7%
King William County3,288Vance44.1%Trump Jr.26.1%
Buchanan County3,200Vance44.2%Trump Jr.33.2%
Fairfax city3,192Rubio58.1%Vance16.5%
Patrick County3,168Vance45.1%Trump Jr.30.8%
Fredericksburg city3,036Rubio43.7%Vance27.0%
Winchester city2,988Rubio37.2%Vance32.8%
Giles County2,979Vance46.0%Trump Jr.26.5%
Waynesboro city2,936Vance39.7%Rubio26.1%
Floyd County2,904Vance45.6%Trump Jr.20.4%
Appomattox County2,859Vance44.3%Trump Jr.29.3%
Clarke County2,756Vance38.3%Rubio30.1%
Grayson County2,653Vance45.1%Trump Jr.30.8%
Westmoreland County2,592Vance43.5%Trump Jr.26.0%
Alleghany County2,559Vance45.9%Trump Jr.28.1%
Poquoson city2,508Vance42.8%Rubio22.7%
Madison County2,459Vance45.5%Trump Jr.20.7%
Nelson County2,459Vance40.7%Rubio25.9%
Colonial Heights city2,459Vance43.2%Trump Jr.20.1%
Southampton County2,419Vance42.4%Trump Jr.30.4%
Dickenson County2,338Vance44.8%Trump Jr.32.1%
Amelia County2,251Vance42.9%Trump Jr.30.9%
Bristol city2,217Vance46.0%Trump Jr.21.4%
Falls Church city2,168Rubio65.5%Haley12.2%
Prince Edward County2,129Vance40.3%Trump Jr.22.6%
Northumberland County2,096Vance45.0%Trump Jr.21.2%
Buckingham County1,903Vance41.5%Trump Jr.32.7%
Middlesex County1,857Vance45.1%Trump Jr.19.6%
Hopewell city1,801Vance38.6%Trump Jr.29.7%
Williamsburg city1,769Rubio47.9%Vance23.7%
Lancaster County1,754Vance42.5%Rubio21.1%
Mathews County1,720Vance45.8%Trump Jr.22.7%
Radford city1,707Rubio37.3%Vance31.5%
Nottoway County1,599Vance40.1%Trump Jr.34.4%
Charlotte County1,569Vance43.6%Trump Jr.29.1%
Northampton County1,551Vance41.2%Rubio19.8%
Petersburg city1,539Trump Jr.32.0%Vance26.8%
Brunswick County1,468Vance37.9%Trump Jr.33.8%
Lunenburg County1,398Vance40.5%Trump Jr.34.7%
Rappahannock County1,397Vance42.5%Rubio22.9%
Essex County1,357Vance41.3%Trump Jr.31.1%
Cumberland County1,347Vance43.4%Trump Jr.27.8%
Manassas Park city1,321Vance32.2%Rubio27.3%
Bland County1,207Vance45.6%Trump Jr.29.8%
Martinsville city1,100Vance39.3%Trump Jr.25.6%
Craig County1,077Vance46.3%Trump Jr.25.2%
King and Queen County1,069Vance43.2%Trump Jr.28.6%
Richmond County1,061Vance43.0%Trump Jr.29.1%
Surry County940Vance40.4%Trump Jr.27.2%
Sussex County909Vance36.5%Trump Jr.35.1%
Buena Vista city854Vance45.7%Trump Jr.21.8%
Charles City County835Vance39.3%Trump Jr.31.2%
Galax city831Vance45.7%Trump Jr.24.9%
Bath County823Vance46.0%Trump Jr.28.5%
Greensville County799Vance37.0%Trump Jr.34.3%
Franklin city707Vance38.3%Trump Jr.26.8%
Covington city686Vance43.4%Trump Jr.31.4%
Lexington city683Rubio46.8%Vance24.7%
Norton city501Vance46.1%Trump Jr.26.5%
Highland County470Vance47.0%Trump Jr.20.0%
Emporia city323Trump Jr.38.5%Vance31.6%