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President Trump once again dominated the anticipated CPAC straw poll in Dallas, Texas, netting a whopping 69 percent of potential support in a hypothetical 2024 presidential primary matchup.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., came in as the runner-up with 24 percent of the vote among a playing field of Republicans that included Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., and Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas.
Trump’s triumphant numbers are up ten points from the last CPAC straw poll in February 2022, which netted him 59.1 percent of potential voters’ support at the conference.
Interestingly, in a hypothetical where Trump was not among the field of potential candidates, Gov. DeSantis was the favorite candidate to run in 2024, garnering an impressive 65 percent of the vote. In that scenario, Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Trump, was the runner-up with 8 percent of the vote.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, when respondents were asked who they would most like to see President Trump pick as a vice presidential running mate if he were to run in 2024, Gov. DeSantis had 43 percent of voter support. Kristi Noem was the second most popular choice, although against DeSantis she only had 9 percent of respondents’ support.
The 45th president has consistently topped every hypothetical 2024 presidential primary poll. In July, Trump took the lion’s share of support in a straw poll at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit, snagging a whopping 78.7 percent of the vote.
In that same poll, Gov. DeSantis also polled in second place with 19 percent of potential voters’ support.