Vice President JD Vance will take center stage on the final night of the Republican midterm convention on Thursday, giving him another opportunity to cement his standing as the early favorite to inherit President Donald Trump’s political movement in 2028. But before Vance delivers the keynote address in Dallas, another potential successor will get his turn: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The back-to-back appearances will offer an early glimpse of a potential 2028 rivalry — and the larger fight over what the Republican Party will look like after Trump. Vance has emerged as the leading heir to Trump’s populist brand of conservatism, while Cruz is carving out a more traditional fiscally conservative lane and increasingly challenging the notion that the vice president should be treated as the presumptive nominee.