Vivek Ramaswamy Leads Straw Poll for Vice Presidential Picks; Tulsi Gabbard in Second Place
- The Indian American entrepreneur and former GOP presidential contender is tied with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem are among lead contenders for former President Trump’s vice presidential pick, a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll has revealed.
Attendees at the annual event held in Maryland last week, gave Noem and Ramaswamy 15 percent each, while former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard got 9 percent.
The three were among six possible candidates Trump said he might consider for the post of vice president. Trump described his shortlist as “all good” and solid” people. However, deciding a running mate is not significant, the said, as “the vice president choice always has no impact.” At the same time, he described it as “a very important position,” and mentioned the qualities he wants in his running mate. Someone who “could help you from the voters’ standpoint,” and also with “common sense.”
Ramaswamy suspended his presidential campaign last month and endorsed Trump. The 38-year-old entrepreneur made the announcement in Des Moines on Jan. 15 after a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Previously, on the campaign trail in August, he had said that he would reject an offer to become someone else’s vice president if he does not win the GOP nomination in 2024. “I’m not interested in a different position in the government,” he said on Fox News. “Frankly, I’d drive change through the private sector sooner than becoming number two or three in the federal government.”
Meanwhile, Gabbard has said she’d be “open” to a “conversation” about becoming Trump’s next vice president. “I’d be open to that conversation,” she said on “Fox & Friends” earlier this month. “My mission in life is to serve our country and serve the American people and find the best way to be able to do that.” She is also is counseling Trump on “policy proposals, military entanglements overseas, and how the Defense Department should be run in a second Trump term,” The Washington Post reported.
The Hill notes that “though the CPAC straw poll is likely to have little weight on which running mate Trump chooses, the poll’s results are likely to increase buzz around the first-place finishers.”
Others on Trump list were Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) who got 8 percent of the votes in the CPAC straw poll; Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) got 7 percent; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got 5 percent.
Although the former president didn’t include a few names in his pick, like Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), and, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, attendees ranked them at 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake received 6 percent, while former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, received 5 percent. Tucker Carlson, independent presidential candidate Robert K. Kennedy Jr., Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley each got less than 5 percent.
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