Former president Donald Trump is the clear top choice for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, according to an unofficial straw poll taken at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas last weekend.
Trump received 69% of the vote from attendees of the conference, which its event website calls “the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world.”
The former president had a decisive advantage over the second-place finisher in the poll, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who received 24% of the vote.
McLaughlin and Associates, which conducted polling for Trump’s successful 2016 election and unsuccessful 2020 reelection bid, oversaw the CPAC straw poll.
Jim McLaughlin, a partner of the polling firm, said the CPAC straw poll is “the ultimate barometer of what’s going on in the conservative movement.”
In total, CPAC attendees were handed a list of 19 potential candidates for the Republican nomination.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was a distant third option, with 2% of the vote, while the remaining candidates in the poll received under 1% of the vote.
Six candidates received zero votes, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The straw poll shows Trump’s influence over the Republican Party remains strong and growing.
In an anonymous online straw poll at a CPAC gathering in Orlando, Florida, in February, Trump received the support of 59% of attendees. DeSantis received 28% support in the poll from Orlando.
The former president’s popularity was highlighted, with 99% of CPAC attendees in Dallas saying they approved of his job performance in the White House.
A second straw poll at CPAC in Dallas left out the former president, replacing him with his son Donald Trump Jr. DeSantis topped the second poll with 65% support.
Trump Jr. was second, grabbing 8% support, Cruz received 6%, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo drew 5% support.
No one else topped two percent on the second ballot question.
Another poll asked attendees whom they would like to see as Trump’s vice presidential running mate in 2024. DeSantis was the top choice with 43% support, followed by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at 9%, Pompeo at 7%, and Cruz at 4%.
DeSantis, who is running for reelection to a second term as Florida governor this fall, has become one of the most-talked about Republicans across the country.
The Florida governor made national headlines with a bill prohibiting teachers from discussing gender identity in grades K-3 and for his dissolution of Disney’s special-tax district.
The poll results were released just before Trump gave the keynote address in Dallas. Despite strong support for another presidential run, the former president was silent during his speech about a potential 2024 bid.
Still, with the 2024 presidential election now less than two years away, CPAC’s presidential poll results seem to demonstrate that support for Trump among the Republican party will not be going away anytime soon.
“President Trump remains the most dominant force in American politics, and as yet another poll shows, it’s a reality that will propel the growth and success of the Republican Party through the Midterms and beyond,” Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich told Fox News after the results were released.
CPAC Dallas attendees were also asked to select who they believed would be the Democrat’s nominee for president in 2024. Most respondents did not think President Joe Biden would be the nominee, with California governor Gavin Newsom leading the way with 37% of the votes.
Former first lady Michelle Obama was second at 16%, with Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tying at 8%. Vice President Kamala Harris received votes from 4% of attendees.