Trump leads DeSantis by 20 points for GOP nomination in 2024: poll

Former Vice President Mike Pence took third place with 7 percent.

By Ben Whedon

Published: January 20, 2023 3:26pm

Updated: January 20, 2023 3:41pm

Former President Donald Trump enjoys a commanding 20-point lead over his nearest prospective competitor for the Republican Party primary nomination in 2024.

Trump took 48 percent support among registered voters in the latest Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey, which was released exclusively to The Hill. That metric puts him clearly ahead of his nearest would-be rival, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who commanded 28 percent support.

Former Vice President Mike Pence took third place with 7 percent while both Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley took 3 percent each. While only Trump has declared his candidacy, Haley has recently announced that she is mulling a bid of her own.

DeSantis improved his standing by three points over the previous month's survey and stands as the runaway favorite in a primary without Trump. That matchup saw the Florida governor take 49 percent with Pence a distant second at 14 percent.

The poll surveyed 2,050 registered voters from Jan. 18-19.

The Harvard-Harris poll is not the only survey to show Trump staving off a surging DeSantis, as a recent Morning Consult poll showed the former president again taking 48 percent support, while DeSantis claimed 31 percent. No other candidate earned double-digit backing in that survey.