Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won the majority of support in a straw poll of conservative workers who were asked to select their most-favored politician to run for president in the 2024 elections, narrowly edging out former President Donald Trump, reported the Christian Post.
The survey was held during the Western Conservative Summit and hosted by Colorado Christian University's Centennial Institute. People attending both the in-person and online gatherings were given 31 choices of both Republicans and Democrats to select as their candidate for the presidential candidate in 2024.
DeSantis is a first-time governor and one of Trump's allies who has been gaining support from conservatives across the United States since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. This is mainly due to his open disagreement with COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions. The Republican scored a 74% approval, a narrow win over Trump's 71%.
Republican Presidential Candidate
The 12th annual summit in Denver, Colorado was attended in person by about 500 people while tens of thousands of residents watched online from their homes. Despite the poll, the potential candidates did not speak at the conference.
The latest poll is a flip of a previous poll in February, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which is the biggest and oldest annual gathering of conservative activists and leaders. DeSantis easily scored the number two spot at the CPAC, where Trump was not included in the list of potential candidates, Fox News reported.
Read Also: Biden Speculated to Fall Short of July 4 Deadline Despite Touting Number of Administered Vaccines
Mike Pompeo, the former Secretary of State, previously launched a new political organization that aims to support conservative candidates running in the 2022 midterm elections. The organization was made amid Republican hopes of gaining back the majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Champion of America Value PAC (CAVPAC) aims to support all conservative candidates in the United States, the former three-term congressman said. He added they wanted to ensure politicians who cared for the American people and who would work for the benefit of the country's middle class got the support they need.
Gaining Support for Conservatives
Along with their preferred candidates, attendees of the summit were asked to vote on which policy issue was most important to them. Immigration/border security topped the list at 82%, election integrity got second place at 79%, religious freedom in third at 75%, federal budget/deficit at 74%, and gun rights just below 74% for fifth place, Newsweek reported.
Pompeo was able to raise money that could be used to support conservative candidates from the newly formed CAVPAC. The fundraising committee was also set up by two other potential GOP White House contenders: former Vice President Mike Pence and former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
Pence previously talked at a major social conservative organization's conference on Friday where he received boos from the crowd as attendees of the event called him a "traitor," forcing security to escort some out of the room. Despite this, the Republican continued his speech, telling people he was first and foremost a Christian, followed by being a conservative, and thirdly a Republican.
