Former President Donald Trump is boasting a 14-point lead over potential Republican primary challengers, a Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday found.
The survey found Trump with a 14-point advantage, garnering 47 percent support in the potentially crowded GOP field.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) came in a distant second with 33 percent support, and former Vice President Mike Pence came in third place with five percent support.
Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, one of three who has formally announced a presidential bid in the GOP, comes in fourth place with four percent support, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, garnering two percent support each.
No other potential candidate listed saw greater than one percent support:
In a head-to-head matchup, Trump continues to lead DeSantis by ten percent — 52 percent to the governor’s 42 percent. The survey also found Trump with a higher favorable rating over Republicans over DeSantis, 79 percent to 72 percent.
Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy described the current GOP field, saying, “Is the raucous Trump political resurrection adrift? Not in the least. DeSantis appears to be treading water and the long list of ‘wannabes’ and ‘could bes’ are barely staying afloat.”
The survey also found 72 percent of Republican voters expressing that Trump has had a positive impact on the party, and 79 percent “consider themselves supporters of the MAGA movement,” per the survey.
The poll was taken March 23-27, 2023, among 1,788 U.S. adults and has a +/- 2.3 percent margin of error.
The survey, taken after Trump announced his suspicion of an arrest at the hands of leftist Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, also found that most, overall, believe the case is motivated mainly by politics — 62 percent. That includes 93 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of independents, and 29 percent of Democrats. That figure coincides with two other polls — a Rasmussen Reports survey and Convention of States Action/Trafalgar Group survey which found most feeling as though the potential indictment would not hurt the former president, if it comes to that.
According to reports, the Manhattan grand jury is expected to break for a month, meaning a potential indictment or arrest would not occur until late April, at least.