Poll: Trump Trampling Competition in Iowa with Nearly 60% Support

Former President Donald Trump is dominating his Republican opponents in Iowa and approaching 60 percent of support with the Caucuses less than a month away, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll. 

The poll, published on Sunday, shows Trump with 58 percent of backing among likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers if the contest were held today, placing him 36 points ahead of his nearest competitor, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), at 22 percent.

Former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) takes 13 percent of the response, followed by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at four percent and former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) at three percent.

The poll also asked voters who they were considering backing beyond who they would support if the caucuses were today, finding that 76 percent of the respondents are considering backing Trump – the only candidate to pull a majority in this regard. Only 18 percent of respondents are not considering him in the caucuses. 

DeSantis fares the second best in terms of considerers, with 45 percent of poll participants saying they are considering him and 32 percent saying they are not. Another 22 percent say they have not heard enough about him but might consider backing him. 

Pluralities of respondents are not considering the remaining three candidates, with 45 percent saying they are not thinking about voting for Haley, 51 percent not considering Ramaswamy, and 76 percent not contemplating backing Christie. Of the respondents, 31 percent are Haley considerers, 22 percent are Ramaswamy considerers, and just 7 percent are Christie considerers. 

The only candidate with fewer considerers than Christie is former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) at two percent. He did not draw a percentage point of support when respondents were asked who they would back if the Caucuses were today.

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Among those who are contemplating Trump, 99 percent say they are doing so because “things were better off under” him. Another top reason for backing him is that “he represents Iowa values,” according to 92 percent of respondents. Three-quarters of respondents also shared that they “know him better than other candidates” and/or that they have always been supporters. 

The polling also finds that respondents overwhelmingly think Trump has the best shot at beating Biden, with 64 percent saying he “would definitely beat Biden,” 30 percent saying he “might beat Biden,” and 6 percent finding him a “long shot” in a 2020 rematch. 

DeSantis performed second-best to Trump on this front. Of the poll participants, 40 percent think DeSantis would definitely win over Biden if he were the nominee, 46 percent think he might beat Biden, and 14 percent see him as a long shot. 

The poll sampled 1,054 registered voters, including some 478 likely Republican caucusgoers, from December 8-15. The margin of error among likely Republican caucusgoers is plus or minus 6.1 percent, per CBS News.