Former President Donald Trump is holding a double-digit lead in the swing state of Pennsylvania, a recent Public Policy Polling survey found.
The survey asked Republican respondents whom they would vote for in the GOP presidential primary race if their choices were Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, or former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
In that scenario, Trump takes a double-digit lead with 49 percent support. DeSantis comes in a distant second place with 31 percent support, and both Haley and Pence tied with five percent support each. Another ten percent said they are not sure who they would support.
The survey then took the top two candidates — Trump and DeSantis — and asked Republicans whom they would support. In that scenario, Trump still has the advantage, leading DeSantis by eight percent — 48 percent to 40 percent. Another 13 percent remain undecided.
Then-Governor-elect Ron DeSantis (R-FL)) sits next to then-President Donald Trump during a meeting with Governors-elect in the Cabinet Room at the White House on December 13, 2018, in Washington, DC (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images).
Further, the survey found Trump boasting the highest favorability of the candidates listed, as 75 percent have a favorable view of the former president. Seventy-one percent view DeSantis favorably, followed by 40 percent who view Haley favorably and 35 percent who view Pence favorably.
The survey was taken March 9-10, 2023, among 616 likely Republican primary voters. It comes as Trump continues to dominate in national polls, even gaining majority support in the latest Morning Consult survey released last week.
As Breitbart News reported:
The survey reveals that Trump has made gains in terms of support over the last week, passing the majority threshold. At the end of February, Trump saw 50 percent support. That has increased three percent, to 53 percent, this week.
No other potential or formal challenger comes close. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falls 25 percent behind, garnering 28 percent support. That reflects a two-point drop from the 30 percent support he garnered at the end of February. In other words, the gap between Trump and DeSantis has jumped from 20 percent to 25 percent in less than a month.
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, who formally jumped into the presidential race last month, experienced a two-point dip since announcing, falling from six percent support to four. Former Vice President Mike Pence comes in with seven percent support, and former Rep. Liz Cheney comes in with two percent support.
Pennsylvania will stand as a key player in the 2024 presidential race — a state Trump narrowly took in 2016. He lost the same state in 2020 by roughly 80,000 votes and has since rallied in the Keystone State, hitting back against Biden’s continued critiques of “MAGA Republicans” last year.
“He’s an enemy of the state. You want to know the truth. The enemy of the state is him,” Trump said of Biden during a Save America rally there.
“Republicans in the MAGA movement are not the ones trying to undermine our democracy,” he continued.
“We are the ones trying to save our democracy, very simple. The danger to democracy comes from the radical left, not from the right,” Trump added.
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