Staff Reports
In a stunning victory, former President Donald Trump has come out on top in the Pray Vote Stand Summit straw poll, beating out Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida by over 35 points. Trump received an impressive 63.9% of the vote, while DeSantis trailed behind with 27.3%. The results of the poll were released just a day after both men delivered speeches at the summit in Washington, D.C.
Governor DeSantis highlighted his refusal to close churches during the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida, hoping to appeal to the religious conservatives in attendance. On the other hand, Trump focused on his plans to create a task force dedicated to investigating those he claims are “political prisoners,” victims of persecution by the Biden administration.
It should come as no surprise that no other candidate received more than 3% of the vote. Former Vice President Mike Pence came in at a measly 2.2%, while Senator Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley received 1.9%, 1.7%, and 1.5% respectively. The highest-ranked Democrat in the poll was President Joe Biden, who managed to scrape together a mere 0.9%.
Turning to the Vice Presidential straw poll, Governor DeSantis emerged as the frontrunner with 25.1% support. Senator Tim Scott followed behind at 19.2%, with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Governor Nikki Haley polling at 13.7% and 12.5% respectively. It is worth noting that Trump received a mere 1.2% of the vote in this category. Additionally, a significant portion of respondents, 17.4%, chose to write in a different candidate.
With such a commanding lead in polls and widespread popularity among conservative voters, it is clear that Donald Trump is the front-runner in the Republican primary race. He currently enjoys a comfortable advantage over his closest competitor, Governor Ron DeSantis, with a lead of over 40 points according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.
