Former President Donald Trump maintains a double-digit lead in a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary field, a recent McLaughlin & Associates survey revealed.
The survey asked Republican primary voters, “Thinking ahead to the 2024 Republican primary election for President, if that election were held today among the following candidates, for whom would you vote?”
Several potential candidates were listed, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Vice President Mike Pence, and more.
According to the survey, a plurality, 42 percent, support Trump in the hypothetical 2024 primary. No other potential candidate comes close. DeSantis falls 16 percent behind with 26 percent support from GOP primary voters.
Nikki Haley, who announced her presidential bid last week, comes in third place with six percent support. Pence falls to fourth with five percent support, followed by Romney (three percent) and Pompeo (two percent).
No other potential candidate saw greater than two percent. Anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who has also thrown his hat in the presidential ring, garnered just one percent support.
When Trump is taken out of the mix, DeSantis leads the pack with 35 percent support, followed by Donald Trump Jr. (ten percent) and Pence (seven percent).
The survey also pitted Trump against DeSantis in a head-to-head matchup and found Trump besting the Florida governor by 18 percent, or 56 percent to 38 percent.
The survey was taken February 17-23, 2023, and follows several other polls showing Trump leading his potential challengers by double digits.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll survey, for example, showed Trump leading DeSantis 43 percent to 31 percent, with no other candidate coming close:
2024 National Republican Primary:
Trump 43%
DeSantis 31%
Pence 7%
Haley 4%
.@Reuters/@Ipsos, 1,465 RV, 2/6-13https://t.co/gFtIyP47QH
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) February 14, 2023
A January Premise Data poll also showed Trump with a tremendous lead over his potential challengers: 59 percent to DeSantis’s 24 percent.
