Former President Donald Trump leads in the most recent Quinnipiac Poll, which takes a look at the potential 2024 Republican primary race.
The survey listed established GOP candidates — including former President Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy — as well as potential candidates.
Among Republicans and Republican-leaners, Trump takes the lead with 46 percent support, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis follows 14 points behind with 32 percent support. No other potential candidate listed comes close, as Haley came in third place with five percent. Former Vice President Mike Pence followed with three percent support, and Sen. Ted Cruz and former Rep. Liz Cheney followed with two percent support. All other potential candidates listed saw one percent support or less:
Notably, Trump has a solid advantage over his challengers when it comes to Republican voters — 49 percent to DeSantis’s 31 percent — but the men are tied when it comes to Republican-leaners, garnering 35 percent support each.
The same survey put Trump against DeSantis in a head to head matchup. In that scenario, Trump still leads 51 percent to the governor’s 40 percent.
The survey also found both politicians with a positive favorable rating among Republicans. Seventy-seven percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Trump, and 72 percent have a favorable view of DeSantis. The results are relatively consistent with the favorable ratings found in the latest Morning Consult survey, which also showed Trump leading in terms of favorability.
The Quinnipiac Poll was taken among 1,635 self-identified registered voters and has a +/- 2.4 percent margin of error. The margin of error for the 677 Republicans and Republican-leaners surveyed is +/- 3.8 percent.
The poll comes as tensions appear to rise between Trump and DeSantis, the latter of whom has not revealed his intentions for 2024. Most recently, the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. filed an ethics complaint against the governor, accusing him of engaging in “illegal conduct” while running what the organization describes as a “shadow presidential campaign.”
“Governor DeSantis’s failure to declare his candidacy is no mere oversight; it is a coordinated effort specifically designed for him to accept, as unethical gifts, illegal campaign contributions and certain personal benefits that are necessarily intended to influence,” the complaint reads in part.
The DeSantis administration has dismissed the complaint as nothing more than a “politically motivated” attack.