(NewsNation) — A new straw poll provides a fresh snapshot of where support for former President Donald Trump stands right now.
In the poll conducted this weekend at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit, the former president received nearly 80 percent of the vote when youth activists were asked who they would vote for if Donald Trump ran and the 2024 Republican presidential primary offered additional candidate choices of Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem, Mike Pompeo, Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley and Mike Pence.
Of the votes cast, 78.7 percent of the conference attendees chose Trump. His closest rival based on the poll’s potential field of 2024 Republican presidential candidates was Florida Gov. DeSantis with 19 percent.
Julia Manchester, national politics reporter at The Hill, appeared on “NewsNation Prime” on Sunday to share her takeaways from the poll.
“First of all, I think it’s notable that this straw poll was obviously conducted at a Turning Point USA Summit that I believe was held in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis’ own state. However, we do know that a number of grassroots activists did come from across the country for this,” Manchester said.
“Look, I think when you get a lot of activists in the party, the grassroots, you are going to get a result that is particularly for someone who may be more conservative or may represent a more conservative wing of the party. That is definitely reflected here in these polls.”
Kristi Noem received 1 percent of the vote with Mike Pompeo at 0.5 percent, Ted Cruz at 0.3 percent, Nikki Haley at 0.3 percent and Mike Pence at 0.3 percent.
The poll also asked which Democrat would be most difficult to defeat in the 2024 presidential election. The majority of attendees, 30.3 percent, voted for Gavin Newsom.
Michelle Obama followed with 13.6 percent of the votes, Hillary Clinton with 10.5 percent, Bernie Sanders at 10.3 percent and Kamala Harris at 7.9 percent.