DeSantis beats Trump in conservative conference straw poll

For the second year in a row, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has won a 2024 presidential election straw poll at a Western conservative summit on Saturday over a field of potential candidates – including former President Donald Trump.

The poll, taken from the 2,000 or so attendees of the Centennial Institute's Western Conservative Summit in Colorado, showed that 71% of respondents approved of DeSantis for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, while 67.7% felt the same of a potential Trump candidacy, reports Fox News.

The survey allowed voters to select “all the candidates [they] approved for President” among the listed choices, meaning they could choose more than one.

DeSantis and Trump are considered by many as the frontrunners in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Both have not yet declared their intent to run and downplayed rumors of tensions between them, with Trump suggesting DeSantis would make a good running mate.

DeSantis had over twice as much approval as the third highest choice in the poll, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 28.7%.

The popular Florida governor also won the same 2024 straw poll last year with 74% approval, compared to Trump’s 71% then.

Dr. Ben Carson (24.2%), Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, placed a surprising fourth place over Sen. Tim Scott (17.4%), a fellow African American with significantly more political experience.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s first press secretary who also spoke at the conference, placed fifth with 18.4%.

Other notable 2024 hopefuls among the top results include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump Jr., former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a Democrat, also spoke at the conference and placed 11th on the straw poll with 13.38%. She also spoke at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference.