Trump more than doubles DeSantis in battle for GOP nomination: poll

The survey bodes well for Trump following his arraignment as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against him.

By Ben Whedon

Published: April 11, 2023 4:51pm

Former President Donald Trump enjoys a commanding lead over his declared and prospective rivals for the Republican primary in the wake of his indictment in New York.

The former president claimed 56% among potential Republican primary voters in the latest Morning Consult survey. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not officially announced his candidacy, trailed with 23% support. The current, 33-point lead marks Trump's largest lead in that survey this election cycle.

Former Vice President Mike Pence claimed 7% support, while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley took 4% and former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney took 3%. Thus far, only Trump, Haley, tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson have declared their candidacies, among those whom the survey included.

Ramaswamy and Hutchinson both claimed 1% support each.

The survey indicated that Republicans largely still view the contest as a Trump-DeSantis matchup, with 48% of Trump's backers choosing him as their second option while a comparable 41% of DeSantis supporters indicated they would break for Trump in the absence of the governor.

Trump and DeSantis both trail President Joe Biden in a hypothetical election matchup. Biden outperformed Trump by a 43% to 42% margin while DeSantis claimed 41% to Biden's 43%.

Conducted between April 7-9, the survey questioned 3,608 potential GOP primary voters and has a margin of error of +/- 2%. That margin of error increases to 4% on the question of respondents' second choices. In the general matchup, the survey questioned 6,000 registered voters and has a 2% margin of error.

The survey bodes well for Trump following his arraignment as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against him involving the former president's alleged role in a 2016 payment his then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made to Stormy Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.