Poll: Donald Trump Up 47 Points in Republican Primary Race; Ramaswamy Ties with Haley

Former President Donald Trump continues to boast a runaway lead in the Republican primary race as his challengers find themselves competing with one another for the second and third place positions, a recent McLaughlin & Associates survey found.

The survey found that the percentage of Republicans who actively want Trump to run for president is increasing throughout the year, moving from 58 percent in January to 66 percent in November. Further, 77 percent of GOP primary voters generally say they would support him for the Republican nomination.

However, when put against the current field, Trump leads by 47 points, with 58 percent support. No other candidate comes remotely close, as the second tier of candidates battle it out for second and third place:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has 11 percent support, but both anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley come just three points behind, tied for third place with eight percent support each.

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NBC News

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comes next with four percent support, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum see one percent support each.

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Perhaps what is more stunning is the trend over the course of the year. The gap between Trump and DeSantis has only continued to expand. In January, for instance, when there were mere rumblings that DeSantis would run for president, just 12 percent separated the two. Then in June, right after DeSantis’s May launch, the gap ballooned to 33 percent. The trend continued, as the gap grew to 39 percent in July, 42 percent in August and September, and 47 percent in October and November.

When matched against DeSantis directly, 75 percent of likely Republican voters said they would support Trump, and 25 percent said the Florida governor. Of those, 53 percent said they would “definitely” support Trump, compared to nine percent who said they would “definitely” support DeSantis.

The survey was taken November 16-20, 2023, among 1,000 likely general election voters and comes as DeSantis, Haley, and Ramaswamy continue to battle it out while Trump appears to remain virtually untouchable in the polls. The presidential hopefuls will meet again for the fourth presidential debate on December 6, but as has been the situation thus far, Trump will not participate in the debate — a move that has not affected his standing in the polls at all.