Former President Donald Trump holds a 43-point lead in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, according to the latest Morning Consult poll results.
Trump, with 58% support, is ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 15%.
They are followed by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, at 9%, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, at 7%, Morning Consult found.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has 6% support, but his popularity has declined in recent weeks. The poll found that 45% of potential primary voters view Pence unfavorably — the first time that has equaled or surpassed those (45%) with a favorable opinion.
Meanwhile, 76% of GOP voters have a favorable opinion of Trump and 65% have a favorable opinion of DeSantis.
The Morning Consult survey results were released two days before the second GOP debate. Seven candidates have qualified for Wednesday night's debate at Ronald Reagan's presidential library in California, the Republican National Committee said.
Trump, who skipped the first debate, will again be missing from the stage. Instead, he will hold events in the battleground state of Michigan.
DeSantis is the second choice of 33% of potential GOP primary voters who support Trump, while 34% of the Florida governor's supporters view Trump as their top back-up option.
Ramaswamy is the second choice of 25% of Trump supporters and 19% of DeSantis backers.
A total of 16% of Trump's supporters — about 10% of all potential GOP primary voters — say they don’t know who they would support if Trump weren’t in the race.
Asked whether they had "seen, read or heard something positive or negative" about each candidate, 38% chose positive for Trump, 34% positive for Ramaswamy, and 32% positive for DeSantis.
Interestingly, 73% said they had heard nothing about South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, while 65% said the same about Haley. Scott has 2% overall support in the race.
The Morning Consult poll also found that since 2016 voters have become more likely to see the GOP as caring about them.
Meanwhile, Democrats have lost voters’ confidence on questions ranging from ideology to general competence since 2020.
The latest Morning Consult survey was conducted Sept. 22-24 among 3,552 potential Republican primary voters.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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