(NewsNation) — America’s voters are divided over who should run alongside former President Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election, a NewsNation/DecisionDesk HQ poll revealed.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley won the plurality vote with 16.11%, garnering the most support from Democrats and people 55+. Among her own party’s voters, Haley only received 14.9% of votes — comparable to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s 14.4%.
Haley, the last Republican challenger to drop out of the primary race against Trump, is known for her more moderate policies. She has endorsed the former president in the months since her departure from the race.
However, an even larger group of voters would prefer to see somebody else (30.86%) on the former president’s ticket this November.
Most of those responses were from those identifying as Democrats (43.3%) and independents (35.7%), with only 15.2% of Republican participants opting for an alternative. People of color also dominated this response: 34.3% identified as Asian, 43.8% African American and 39.4% Hispanic.
Though Haley was the clear winner among named choices, other Republican politicians garnered decent numbers as well. Rubio received 12.22% of the total vote, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott 9.04% and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy 8.27%.
Scott and Ramaswamy, the youngest option named, both competed against Trump early on in 2024 election cycle. Ramaswamy endorsed Trump following his loss in the Iowa caucuses, while Scott dropped out in November 2023 after he failed to gain traction nationwide.
Rubio has a storied history with the former president, as they butted heads during their 2016 runs, exchanging insults like “Little Marco” and “con man.” Following Trump’s ascension to the oval office, Rubio became a staunch Trump supporter and is rumored to have moved up his VP shortlist.
Notably, 6.52% of respondents favored a member of Donald Trump’s family for the VP spot. That choice was most popular among younger voters in the 18-34 age range and split rather evenly among parties: 7% for Democrats, 6.7% for independents and 6.2% for Republicans.
Here’s how other possible picks stacked up:
- Ohio Senator J.D. Vance: 4.62%
- Neurosurgeon Ben Carson: 3.97%
- Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum: 3.02%
- Florida Rep. Byron Donalds: 2.85%
- South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem: 2.52%
It’s important to note that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik were not on the list of options, though their names have been floated as possible picks in the past.
The poll asked 1,000 participants “Who among the following would you say is best suited to help Donald Trump win the presidential general election in November?” between June 30 and July 1. This question had a 2.87% margin of error.
