Over the course of the last four days at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, it was undoubtedly discussed. Participants in the yearly event, which has been primarily attended by supporters of Donald Trump, cast votes in a straw poll to choose who would lead the Republican ticket in November.
On Saturday evening, the results—which comprised 17 potential candidates—were revealed:
Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota – 15%
Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential contender, 15%
Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii, 9%
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York – 8%
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina – 8%
Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida – 7%
A de facto audition for the number-two nomination took place on Thursday and Friday when five of the top six vote-getters spoke to the Cpac audience. One of the front-runners, Mr. Scott, was out campaigning for Mr. Trump in his home state of South Carolina, where the Republican primary was contested on Saturday. As a result, he was unable to attend the convention.
