One of the most anticipated parts of CPAC has always been the straw poll — specifically who conservative attendees expect to be the next Republican presidential nominee.
Well, the results are in. And there are some very interesting numbers!
To begin with, President Trump’s first few weeks in office received an astounding 99% approval rating!
But the most anticipated poll went to — you guessed it — JD Vance.
The Vice President completely blew the competition of of the water, coming away with an incredible 61% of those polled expecting Vance to be the likely presidential nominee in 2028.
Vice President JD Vance wins CPAC straw poll with overwhelming majority https://t.co/QNFhUdlqTm pic.twitter.com/fX2upqAz5b
— New York Post (@nypost) February 22, 2025
The results came out Saturday afternoon with Vance as the clear winner to be the expected 2028 Republican nominee.
Steve Bannon came in second, with 12% of the vote according to the New York Post:
Vice President JD Vance was the overwhelming choice of GOP activists to be the 2028 Republican presidential nominee, according to the annual straw poll of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
In results released Saturday afternoon, Vance was the choice of 61% of CPAC attendees. Former Trump counselor and conservative activist Steve Bannon came in a distant second with 12%, while Florida Gov. and one-time Trump rival Ron DeSantis came in third with 7% support.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and incoming UN ambassador Elise Stefanik both had the support of 3% of conference-goers.
The poll results, one of the most watched moments of the Republican confab, is followed closely by politicians, fundraisers and the press as a barometer of the mood of conservatives.
The results also showed that President Trump enjoyed an unprecedented 99% approval rating among the group.
A further 99% of participants 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% saying they “strongly agreed.”
Nikki Haley, Kristi Noem, Rick Scott, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders all received 1% of the votes, bringing up the bottom of the list.
Whereas Steve Bannon (12%), Ron DeSantis (7%), Marco Rubio (3%), and Elise Stefanik (3%) rounded up those in 2nd through 5th place.
Donald Trump Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, and Vivek Ramaswamy came in tied with 2% of the vote each.
Here’s the results posted on X by CPAC:
📊@CPAC STRAW POLL RESULT: When asked who they think should be the 2028 Republican nominee for president, CPAC attendees chose Vice President @JDVance.
JD Vance – 61%
Steve Bannon – 12%
Ron DeSantis – 7%
Marco Rubio – 3%
Elise Stefanik – 3%
Donald Trump Jr. – 2%
Tulsi Gabbard -… pic.twitter.com/rrefVnuzgN— CPAC (@CPAC) February 22, 2025
Here’s the full screen player of the moment the results were announced:
📊@CPAC STRAW POLL RESULT: When asked who they think should be the 2028 Republican nominee for president, CPAC attendees chose Vice President @JDVance.
JD Vance – 61%
Steve Bannon – 12%
Ron DeSantis – 7%
Marco Rubio – 3%
Elise Stefanik – 3%
Donald Trump Jr. – 2%
Tulsi Gabbard -… pic.twitter.com/rrefVnuzgN— CPAC (@CPAC) February 22, 2025
Apparently the primary thread motivating the vote in favor of JD Vance was that he is considered to be the most like President Trump.
Jim McLaughlin, President of the polling organization that conduced the CPAC straw poll, stressed that the CPAC straw poll has accurately predicted conservative views and voting trends in recent years, according to Fox News:
“You guys are the conservative movement, you guys are the thought leaders, the opinion leaders. We asked folks who they thought would be the Republican nominee, who they preferred for the Republican for president in 2028. And who is it?,” Jim McLaughlin, president of McLaughlin & Associates Polls, said Friday from the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Saturday.
“JD Vance. And why? Because he’s viewed as the closest thing to Donald Trump,” McLaughlin added, he did not provide additional data on Vance’s support among CPAC attendees.
The straw poll was conducted among more than 1,000 attendees of the conservative conference, which kicked off on Wednesday and wraps up on Saturday following President Donald Trump’s planned speech.
ADVERTISEMENTMcLaughlin noted that the straw poll has accurately predicted conservatives’ views and voting trends in previous years, including that Trump would win the 2024 primary and general election.
“You know how I knew Donald Trump was going to win the people in this room? Because when we did the CPAC polls over the years, and you had the mainstream media saying, you know, ‘Donald Trump couldn’t win again.’ Donald Trump was winning overwhelmingly, not by a little bit, overwhelmingly in every single CPAC poll. You guys knew he was going to win the primary. You all knew that he was going to win the general election, no matter what the Democrats threw at us,” he said.
The approval or disapproval of President Trump and DOGE’s work to cut out pork spending and root out fraudulent spending was also on the ballot of the straw poll.
Even though conservatives would be the first group to point out that Congress retains legislative powers, and the House of Representatives holds the funding mechanisms in their hands…
An overwhelming majority of attendees want to continue to see President Trump make decisions about the financial aspects of government spending with the work of DOGE continuing.
Check out this graphic showing those results on the CPAC stage:
You can view the full segment with the results of every CPAC straw poll questions here:
While President Trump recently answered “No” when asked if he saw JD Vance as his successor, citing that it was “too early” to start talking about things like that…
It seems obvious that among conservatives, Vance is the clear option going forward.
Of course, that COULD happen in four years.
Or, it could be a few years beyond that before Vance feels comfortable throwing his hat in the ring for President…
Particularly if — as he has been trolling the media over — President Trump decides to run for a THIRD TERM!?
The rumor has been circling among Trump supporters and Congressmen that the potential for a constitutional change allowing President Trump to go after a third term is in the works.
Who knows? If things continue as they are with more and more people happily amazed at the big moves President Trump is making to turn things around for America…
There is the distinct possibility that JD Vance may hold off from throwing his hat in the 2028 Presidential ring.
He might be otherwise occupied running for VP again on another Trump-Vance ticket!
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