Trump Surges in New Poll, Has 'Strongest Lead Yet Over DeSantis'
Former President Donald Trump has his biggest lead to date in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, according to a new poll.
A Morning Consult survey released Tuesday indicated the race at this point is essentially a two-man contest between the former president and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis has not yet announced if he intends to run in the primary, nor has former Vice President Mike Pence, who was a distant third behind Trump and DeSantis.
Trump led the pack with the support of 53 percent of potential Republican primary voters, which Morning Consult defined as “any registered voter who said they plan to vote in the Republican presidential primary or caucus in their state in 2024.”
DeSantis trailed Trump significantly with 28 percent supporting him.
Only 7 percent of those polled said they would support Pence, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley received the support of 4 percent in the survey.
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was at 2 percent, while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott each had 1 percent.
The only major announced GOP contenders so far are Trump, Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who had zero percent support in the poll.
Morning Consult surveyed 3,071 potential Republican primary voters Friday through Sunday. The poll reported an unweighted margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
The report said the survey showed Trump with his “strongest lead yet over DeSantis” since the pollster began tracking the race for the 2024 GOP nomination.
2024 GOP Primary Polling Trends by Morning Consult
Jan 2:
• Trump — 45% (+11)
• DeSantis — 34%
• Pence — 8%
• Haley — 3%Feb 25:
• Trump — 48% (+18)
• DeSantis — 30%
• Pence — 7%
• Haley — 6%MARCH 5:
• Trump — 53% (+25)
• DeSantis — 28%
• Pence — 7%
• Haley — 4% pic.twitter.com/kUvW3TGsRK— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) March 7, 2023
The poll also found Trump with a narrow lead over President Joe Biden in a potential rematch of the 2020 election, 43 percent to 42 percent, while DeSantis trailed Biden 44 percent to 40 percent.
On the other side of the aisle, Morning Consult reported Biden leads his only announced Democratic primary challenger, author and self-help guru Marianne Williamson, by 73 points.
The survey of 829 potential Democratic primary voters found 77 percent said they support Biden compared with 4 percent who backed Williamson.
The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Biden, who is 80 years old, has not yet committed to running for a second term.
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