South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were tied for first place as Republican grassroot activists’ preference for former President Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gave Noem and Ramaswamy 15 percent each when asked whom they believed Trump should pick as his running mate for 2024.
Both have been floated as potential picks for Trump.
The former president, the front-runner in the GOP race, confirmed earlier this week that all of those on a rumored shortlist of candidates were “all solid.”
In Saturday’s straw poll, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard came in second at 9 percent, followed by House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) at 8 percent.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) notched 7 percent, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake received 6 percent, while former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) each got 5 percent.
Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, independent presidential candidate Robert K. Kennedy Jr., Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley each got less than 5 percent.
Though the CPAC straw poll is likely to have little weight on which running mate Trump chooses, the poll’s results are likely to increase buzz around the first-place finishers.
Noem, Stefanik and Vance have been among the most prominent Republican politicians who were at CPAC and have been floated as potential running mates for the former president.
Scott is in South Carolina ahead of the state’s GOP primary, where Trump is expected to trounce Haley in her home state. The former president is 30 points ahead, according to the polling index from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.