New polling shows former President Donald Trump growing his lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Republican presidential nomination.
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll found most registered Republicans and Republican-leaning voters would support Trump if a primary were held in their state today. He led a crowded field with 52% of the vote, with DeSantis coming in a distant second with 21%. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley polls at 5% while former Vice President Mike Pence received 3% support. Both former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo showed with 2%, while businessman Vivek Ramaswamy picked up 1%.
In head-to-head polling with just DeSantis and Trump, the former President’s support in fact grows. The Mar-a-Lago Republican takes 57% of the vote to the Governor’s 31%.
The national poll was taken March 30 and 31. About 1,089 respondents were included in the sample. Pollsters report a 3.3% margin of error, though that is of all voters, and the polling report did not calculate a margin of error for the Republican primary polling with a smaller sample.
Results were collected entirely after news broke of Trump’s indictment by a New York grand jury.
That seems to show the news events of the last few weeks led to Republicans rallying around Trump. YouGov also polled voters March 16 through 20, when Trump still led DeSantis but by just 47% to 39%. In February, pollsters found DeSantis leading Trump 45% to 41%.
Of note, Republican voters now believe Trump is more capable of beating incumbent Democrat Joe Biden. About 55% of Republicans and Republican-leaners think Trump has the best chance of winning the 2024 General Election, while just 29% say that about DeSantis.
But when pollsters asked all voters if Trump was a better or worse candidate now than in 2020, when he lost to Biden, 40% said he was weaker now. About 33% said Trump was a stronger candidate than in 2020, and 16% believe there’s no difference.
The poll found Biden leading Trump 45% to 43%, well within the margin of error and with the sitting President short of a majority.
Asked specifically about Trump’s indictment, about 39% said they were satisfied or enthusiastic about the turn of events. Meanwhile, 37% felt dissatisfied or angry at the news.
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