Former President Donald Trump continues to solidify his position as the frontrunner in the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential election. In the latest Morning Consult poll published on Tuesday, he had an overwhelming 61% of potential Republican primary voters support him for the party’s nomination.
Trump’s numbers simply mean that his presidential bid is backed by over 3 in 5 potential Republican primary voters.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who has not yet officially declared his candidacy, managed to secure second place in the poll with the support of 18% of participants. While DeSantis is a popular figure within Republican circles, he still trails far behind the formidable Trump.
The Morning Consult Poll, aptly named the “2024 GOP Primary Tracker,” has consistently shown Trump in the lead, but this current 43-point margin is the largest he has achieved so far, with 3,571 participating in the poll.
The result saw the gap between him and DeSantis widen by two points since the previous week’s poll, in which Trump secured 60% support while DeSantis received 19%.
Notably, other candidates in the race failed to secure up to 10% support, with former Vice President Mike Pence coming in third at 6% while former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy managed to secure 4% each.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) received the backing of 2% of respondents while Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, former Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) all tied at 1%.
Morning Consult Poll: Trump Posts Biggest Lead Yet Over DeSantis
Trump — 61% (+43)
DeSantis — 18%
Pence — 6%
Haley — 4%
Ramaswamy — 4%
Cheney — 2%
Abbot — 1%
T. Scott — 1%
Hutchinson — 1%May 12-14 | 3,571 registered votershttps://t.co/dQctcc1IMp pic.twitter.com/C2zq0HPApK
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) May 16, 2023
The poll went beyond examining primary voter preferences and delved into the second-choice candidates of both Trump and DeSantis supporters. It revealed that a significant portion of DeSantis supporters, 43% to be precise, viewed Trump as their second choice.
DeSantis also emerged as the second choice for 44% of Trump supporters, while Pence secured the second-highest second-choice response with 15%. He is followed by Ramaswamy and Haley who secured 10% and 5%, respectively.
As for Desantis’ supporters, Pence emerged as the second-highest second choice, with 15% of the votes. Haley and Ramaswamy trailed behind, with 13% and 9% respectively.
As the 2024 presidential race begins to take shape, only time will tell if Trump’s lead will endure or if a new contender will emerge to challenge his dominance within the Republican party. While reports have it that DeSantis will officially announce his bid later this month, he does not seem to be much of a threat to the former president, whose polling lead continues to surge.
