Former President Donald Trump dominates the field in a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary, a McLaughlin & Associates survey released this week found.
The survey, taken September 9-14, 2021, asked Republican primary voters, “Thinking ahead to the 2024 Republican primary election for President, if that election were held today among the following candidates, for whom would you vote?”
The survey showed Trump dominating the field with 59 percent support. No other candidate came close, as former Vice President Mike Pence garnered 10 percent, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) earned 8 percent support. The remaining candidates, which include Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Candace Owens, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, and former Gov. John Kasich, all garnered three percent or less:
The survey asked the same question but excluded Trump from the lineup. In that scenario, DeSantis takes the lead with 22 percent support. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., came in second with 19 percent support, followed by Pence (15 percent) and Cruz (7 percent). The remaining candidates garnered five percent support or less:
Trump has not closed the door on running in 2024, but DeSantis has continued to quash rumors of a potential presidential run. He dispelled the chatter this month, deeming the speculation “purely manufactured”:
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during a press conference on June 8, 2020, in Miami, Florida (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)
“I just do my job and we work hard… I hear all this stuff and honestly it’s nonsense,” he told reporters.