Vice President JD Vance is building up a significant lead as the Republican presidential frontrunner thanks to some "really weird" numbers, according to CNN's Harry Enten.
The prediction markets love the vice president's chances of as the heir apparent to President Donald Trump, and Enten told "CNN News Central" that Vance was building up a historic lead in a key Republican primary state more than two years out from the presidential election cycle.
"It is never, never too early to talk about political risks because these guys are running already, even if they haven't formally declared they're already running, and JD Vance is running well ahead of the field," Enten said. "I mean, take a look here: Top chances to be the 2028 GOP nominee, the prediction market odds. Look at this: JD Vance, 48 percent chance – nobody else is even close. Marco Rubio is way back at 12 percent, and no one else is even above a 5 percent chance of being the 2028 GOP nominee."
"JD Vance is like Mario Andretti, and Marco Rubio and the rest of the field are like going around in go-karts at this point. I mean, that's really what we're looking at: JD Vance is the clear, heavy favorite at this time."
The vice president has amassed a 42-point polling lead in New Hampshire over Nikki Haley, who's in second place with nine points, and Enten said he's never seen anyone race so far out front.
"There's a reason why he's such a heavy favorite in the prediction market so far, because if you win the GOP primary in New Hampshire, chances are you're going to be the Republican nominee for president," Enten said. "I saw this 51 percent [support for Vance], and all of a sudden there was a buzz going around my head. I said, boy, this seems really weird. I can't recall anyone being this far ahead at this early stage in New Hampshire. I looked back, hitting 50 percent-plus in the early New Hampshire polls for a sitting president, JD Vance is the only one, the only one you can go all the way back in the polling archives, all the way back to 1980, which is the earliest I could look at. JD Vance is the only one ever to getting a majority of the New Hampshire vote, according to the early primary polls."
"At this point, JD Vance is pulling off something historic at this time, and that is the key reason why at this point, he is the far and away favorite for the Republican nomination," Enten added. "He's just way out ahead of the pack."
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