Well on his way to the Republican nomination and eager to cast himself as inevitable, Donald J. Trump has repeatedly invited speculation about his running mate.
Now organizers for one of the most prominent gatherings of the conservative movement plan to follow suit.
The 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC, which starts on Wednesday, will conclude on Saturday with a straw poll that will include a vice-presidential question for the first time in at least a decade, organizers say.
The question, which asks CPAC attendees to pick the best running mate for Mr. Trump, nods to where attention is soon likely to turn in the Republican primary race. But its inclusion and Trump-specific wording are also the latest sign of just how completely the former president now dominates the party and its conglomerate of allied groups.
The slate of options, with 17 potential contenders, reads like a V.I.P. list for the latest black-tie gala at Mar-a-Lago.
It includes some of the names most often floated, like Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York and Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, according to a version of the poll shared with The New York Times.
