The Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll on Saturday was overwhelmingly won by former President Donald Trump, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a distant second and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo all pulling in single digit support.
Trump scooped up a whopping 62 percent of the vote of CPAC attendees, with DeSantis pulling in less than a third of that at 20 percent. The Florida governor’s poor polling at the conservative confab was somewhat expected since he decided not to attend.
Michigan millionaire and longest-of-longshot candidates Perry Johnson came in a surprising third, with 5 percent. According to Politico reporter Meridith McGraw, Johnson’s campaign “set up shop here this week” and apparently the on-the-ground efforts paid off.
Haley followed with 3 percent, and then Ramaswamy, Paul, Cruz, and Pompeo each got 1 percent.
DeSantis was more competitive with the question asking CPAC attendees who they wanted as vice president. With the majority of poll takers (62%) picking Trump, most of these answers would be assuming the 45th president at the top of the ticket.
Kari Lake, the losing Arizona governor candidate who was tapped to deliver a keynote speech at CPAC, came in first with 20 percent picking her for veep, followed by DeSantis at 14 percent, Haley at 10 percent, and then a large field in the single
Sarah Rumpf contributed to this article.
This article has been updated with additional information.