A straw poll conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this weekend found that attendees overwhelmingly favored Vice President J.D. Vance to be President Donald Trump’s successor in 2028. Of the 1022 attendees surveyed, 61 percent preferred Vance as the Republican nominee for president at the next election. In a distant second place was former White House Chief Strategist and Breitbart executive Steve Bannon at 12 percent, with Governor Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Marco Rubio trailing behind at 7 and 3 percent, respectively. Jim McLaughlin, president of McLaughlin & Associates Polls, announced the results on stage at CPAC, explaining that Vance was the clear choice because “he’s viewed as the closest thing to Donald Trump.” Someone with an even better claim to that title—Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.—was the preferred nominee of just two percent of conference attendees.
