Former President Donald Trump's lead over Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary has nearly doubled since March, according to FiveThirtyEight's latest polling average.
Trump has consistently maintained a sizable lead over the Florida governor, who has yet to formally declare his run for the presidency. However, FiveThirtyEight's latest aggregation of nationwide polls indicate Trump is pulling away, and fast. As of Wednesday, he leads DeSantis by nearly 32 points (53.1%-21.3%).
The gap has increased each month since March 1, when polls indicated the former commander in chief held more than a 16-point lead (46% to 29.7%). By April 1, DeSantis (28.1%) trailed Trump (47.6%) by more than 19%.
FiveThirtyEight's polling average revealed the largest increase in Trump's advantage May 1, when he took more than a 29-point lead over DeSantis (52.2%-22.7%).
The remaining declared or potential Republican primary candidates linger far behind the two top contenders. As of Wednesday, former Vice President Mike Pence had garnered only 5.7% in FiveThirtyEight's polling average, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley earned 4.1%. Vivek Ramaswamy, co-founder and executive chairman of the Ohio-based firm Strive Asset Management, mustered only 3.4%, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson had attracted a paltry 1%.
FiveThirtyEight used 13 pollsters from their May national surveys in its polling average. Notably, Trump led all 13 polls, with leads ranging from a low of 25 points (Big Village) to a high of 45 points (Rasmussen Reports).