Poll: Trump Leads DeSantis by 8 in Hypothetical Head-to-Head

Former President Donald Trump holds a near double-digit lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in a hypothetical head-to-head 2024 Republican primary contest, according to a Yahoo/YouGov poll.

Of the Republicans and Republican-leaning independents sampled, 47 percent support Trump in a race against just DeSantis, who garners 39 percent backing. Another eleven percent of voters are undecided in the hypothetical scenario, and two percent would not vote. The figures for the politicians are unchanged compared to a Yahoo/YouGov poll from February.

This current poll also showed the candidates’ standing among a larger primary field, finding that Trump holds a double-digit lead as the front-runner with 44 percent of support. DeSantis sits at 28 percent, and his 16-point deficit has not changed since last month when he registered at 29 percent, and Trump sat at 45 percent.

Former Gov Nikki Haley (R-SC), who announced her candidacy in February, has five percent support in third place. Another four percent of respondents back Former Vice President Mike Pence, while Gov. Glen Youngkin (R-VA) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) are at two percent apiece. Former Govs. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Larry Hogan (R-MD) have one percent support each.

In a race solely among the four leading vote-getters, Trump jumps to 47 percent, while DeSantis gains four points, reaching 32 percent. Six percent back Haley in this scenario, and five percent choose Pence.

The poll also gauged potential general election matchups between the top two vote-getters and President Joe Biden in a general race among 1,059 registered voter respondents. Biden holds a slim two-point lead over Trump at 45 percent to 43 percent, with seven percent undecided. As this is within the 2.7 percent margin of error, the race is a statistical tie.

DeSantis and Biden tie at 43 percent apiece, with ten percent undecided and five percent refusing to vote.

The poll was conducted from March 16-20, meaning a portion of it was completed after Trump announced he expected to be arrested, based on “illegal leaks” from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The GOP primary portion of the poll sampled 459 registered Republicans and leaners. The margin of error for the entire poll is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.