Unlike CPAC’s Orlando event in February — and the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Nashville conference in June — the weekend gathering was missing most of the non-Trump names floated as potential 2024 contenders, though Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) were among the elected officials who spoke.
And while Trump’s dominant standing in the GOP has never been under greater threat from a rising crop of ambitious Republicans, the event highlighted his continued pull with the party’s activists. A straw poll survey of CPAC Texas attendees’ 2024 preferences showed Trump leading with 69 percent support, 10 percentage points higher than his showing at the February gathering in Florida. DeSantis came in second place with 23…
