Former President Donald Trump handily won the carefully anticipated straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, scoring a symbolic victory among the Republican base as he aims to retake the White House in 2024.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who is considered to be Trump's closest competitor, finished second with 20 percent of the vote. Earned 5% was businessman Perry Johnson, who this week declared his campaign for president.
The results aren't particularly shocking because the former president consistently placed first in straw polls conducted by CPAC to determine the attendees' preferences for the next president.
Trump received 59 percent of the vote in the straw poll at CPAC in Orlando, Florida, the previous year. In that informal poll, DeSantis received 28% of the vote.
A number of potential candidates for the presidency in 2024, including DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), avoided the event this time around. At the same time, CPAC has evolved into a Trump-friendly setting over the years.
Trump is scheduled to speak at the conference on Saturday night, while two other declared candidates—entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley—made speeches earlier in the week.
