Politics
NEW: CPAC’s 2028 Presidential Straw Poll Finds Overwhelming Favorite
Vice President J.D. Vance emerged victorious by a wide margin in the 2028 presidential candidate straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this week. The vice president handily beat out Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, among other hypothetical candidates.
The results of the poll, which asked attendees who they would vote for in the next Republican presidential primary cycle, were shared on X by former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Vance ran away with the poll, receiving an astonishing 61 percent of the vote. Bannon came in second with 12 percent, though the “War Room” host has given no indication that he intends to pursue a bid for president.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis garnered five percent of the vote, a troubling result given his likely plans to run again in 2028 after a disappointing primary campaign in 2024. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, another likely candidate, received three percent of the vote, as did soon-to-be UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik. Donald Trump Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard each pulled two percent, while Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) each received one percent.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was also included in the straw poll, though he received no votes. An additional four percent of respondents indicated that they are currently “undecided.”
The annual straw poll was conducted in conjunction with McLaughlin and Associates.
Photo: Sean Spicer via X
CPAC’s straw polls generally carry significant weight in the Republican and conservative political sphere, a fact that was acknowledged by President Trump during his keynote address. The president previously won the conference’s 2023 straw poll by a whopping 40 points before easily defeating challengers Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley before Super Tuesday.
As for the Trump agenda, the poll found that the Republican Party is near unanimously united behind the Trump agenda, as 99 percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement; “The first few weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency have been the best for the modern conservative movement in my lifetime” — with 94 percent saying they “strongly agreed.”
Attendees also expressed strong support for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, as 89 percent of respondents said they would like DOGE to have direct control over auditing federal agencies/departments and allocating funds.
