Former President Donald Trump holds a double-digit lead over his potential 2024 Republican primary opponents, according to a poll.
McLaughlin & Associates sampled 480 likely GOP primary voters from December 9-14, finding that 48 percent support Trump in his 2024 bid. He holds a 15 point advantage over his closest potential competitor, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), whom 23 percent of respondents support. Former Vice President Mike Pence sits in third place, with just five percent of the response, followed by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) at four percent.
Another three percent of poll participants back former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and two percent are behind Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), the GOP’s failed presidential nominee in 2012. No other candidate has more than one percent of support.
DeSantis has made slow gains over the past year and a half, according to previous surveys from the polling outfit. In May 2021, he only received eight percent of support but reached the mid-teens by last March. He has continued to climb since.
Recent polls focusing on the 2024 GOP primary have yielded varying results, as some have Trump in the lead and others give DeSantis the advantage. A Morning Consult poll released last week gave the 45th president an 18-point advantage over the Florida governor, while a Harvard CAPS/Harris survey also shows Trump up double-digits. Conversely, a Wall Street Journal/Impact Research and Fabrizio, Lee & Associates poll from last week showed DeSantis out in front by 14 points.
This current poll also gauged a strictly Trump versus DeSantis primary. In that scenario, 58 percent of respondents support Trump, while 36 percent back DeSantis and 7 percent are undecided. Moreover, McLaughlin & Associates asked all 1,000 likely voter respondents — not just the 480 likely GOP primary voters — who they would support in a potential general election rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden. Biden, whom House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) just endorsed for reelection, has support from 45 percent of the respondents, putting him behind Trump at 48 percent. Another seven percent are undecided. Trump has led Biden consistently in McLaughlin & Associates polls throughout 2022.
The entire poll sampled 1,000 likely general election voters nationally from December 9-14. A margin of error was not provided.
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