President Trump leads BIG in latest 2024 CPAC poll, DeSantis follows—Mike Pence receives NO votes

The former president, Donald Trump, and Florida governor, Ron DeSantis (R) led the straw poll for the 2024 GOP presidential nominee at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this week.

According to The Hill, 70% of those who responded to the survey reported they would vote for the former president in the Republican primary if it were held today.  DeSantis came in second place with 21% of the vote. Receiving 1% of the vote was Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky), former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Fox News host Tucker Carlson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R).

However, when the polls did not include Trump, DeSantis came out on top with 68% of the vote. This same poll marked Pompeo at second with 5% and Donald Trump Jr. at third with 4%. Former Vice President Mike Pence did not receive any votes. Prior to the region CPAC convention straw poll, DeSantis had beat out the former president in a poll of potential 2024 candidates that was conducted in June at the Western Conservative Summit. The poll place DeSantis ahead of Trump by ten votes. Similar results were seen at the annual CPAC in February.

Earlier this month, former President Trump told Sean Hannity of Fox News that he has made a decision on if he will run again in 2024 but has not made his decision public. In May, Trump had said he would consider DeSantis as his running mate should he decide to run in 2024. DeSantis has seen a dramatic rise among Republicans in the past year as a result of his COVID-19 response and his outspokenness on several key current issues (New York Post).