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A straw poll conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) revealed that Indian-origin biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem were the top choices for Trump’s potential running mate in the 2024 US presidential elections. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu member of Congress, was the third choice.

Both Ramaswamy and Noem received 15% of the votes each, placing them at the top of the list, according to the New York Times.

Noem became the first woman governor of South Dakota elected in 2018, endorsed by Trump. She gained national recognition during the Covid-19 pandemic for her refusal to issue statewide mandates for masking and vaccinations.

Ramaswamy, 38, born in Cincinnati to Indian immigrant parents, ran for the Republican presidential nomination this year. However, he quit after coming fourth in the Iowa caucuses and supported Trump instead.

Former President Donald Trump secured a decisive victory over his challenger, Nikki Haley, in the South Carolina Republican primary on Sunday. This win consolidates his position as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election.

This win adds to Trump’s previous victories in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and the US Virgin Islands.

It was for the first time in US Presidential elections that the question of who Republicans should choose for vice-president had become more important than the presidential nominee in the survey, reported the New York Times.

This happened because Trump, 77, won the presidential poll overwhelmingly, beating Nikki Haley with 94% to 5%.

The last time Trump wasn’t the top choice at the CPAC was in 2016, when Senator Ted Cruz came first.

HINDU POLITICIAN TULSI GABBARD IN THIRD SPOT

Former Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard followed Ramaswamy and Noem in the vice-presidential poll with 9% of the votes. Representatives Elise Stefanik and Tim Scott got 8% of the vote each.

The CPAC attendees picked Senator JD Vance of Ohio as their favourite senator. However, he received only 2% of the votes, trailing behind Tucker Carlson from Fox News and Robert F Kennedy Jr, a member of a Democratic family who is running for president as an Independent, according to the reports.

This potential nomination would mark Trump’s first presidential campaign without former vice president Mike Pence. The two had a falling out after Pence refused to overturn the results of the 2020 election, won by Joe Biden, a Democrat.