Former President Donald Trump is continuing to maintain a sizable lead in a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary race, the latest survey from Morning Consult found.
The data showed Trump garnering support from nearly half of those surveyed — 49 percent. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) falls 19 points behind with 30 percent support.
No other potential challenger came close or saw double-digit support, as former Vice President Mike Pence fell to a distant third with seven percent support. Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley fell to fourth place with three percent support, and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), as well as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), saw two percent support each.
Morning Consult noted that Trump’s 19-point lead in the hypothetical primary is up from an 11-point gap — the biggest low — measured earlier this month. At the time, Trump saw 45 percent support to DeSantis’s 34 percent.
Still, DeSantis remains the top backup choice for Trump voters, as 42 percent chose him. Similarly, Trump appears as the top second choice for DeSantis supporters as well with 39 percent choosing him.
The survey also matched up Trump and DeSantis against President Biden and found Trump leading the president by three percent, 44 percent to 41 percent. Ten percent said “someone else,” and six percent remain undecided.
Biden, however, leads DeSantis by two percent — 43 percent to 41 percent. In that instance, eight percent said “someone else,” and another eight percent remain undecided. In both matchups, the undecideds could swing the race in either direction.
Both Trump and DeSantis are also enjoying top favorable ratings among Republican voters as well — 78 percent and 72 percent, respectively.
All the while, 44 percent of GOP primary voters said they seen, read, or heard something “positive” about DeSantis in the last week, while just 13 percent said they have heard something negative. Three in ten, meanwhile, said they have seen, read, or heard something negative about Trump, while 36 percent report hearing, seeing, or reading something positive.
The survey was taken January 20-22, 2023, among 3,592 potential GOP primary voters:
It coincides with the latest Emerson College survey which told a similar story, showing Trump leading DeSantis by double digits yet again — 55 percent to the Florida governor’s 29 percent. Further, that same survey found Trump leading Biden in a presidential matchup, 44 percent to the 80-year-old’s 41 percent.
“Since the November national poll, Trump’s support has increased by three percentage points, from 41% to 44% and Biden’s support has decreased by four percentage points, from 45% to 41%,” the survey found.
The latest Harvard-Harris 2024 poll also showed Trump leading Biden in a head-to-head matchup, 46 percent to 41 percent.
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