Former President Donald Trump maintains a sizable lead in the Republican primary race, as his contenders fail to put a dent in his dominance, a Morning Consult survey released Tuesday found.
This week’s survey showed Trump with majority support again. Fifty-seven percent of potential Republican primary voters support the former president. That reflects a three-point dip from last week, but he saw 58 percent in the survey’s first post-debate poll. In other words, Trump’s lead has remained steady with little fluctuation at the top.
2024 National Republican Primary:
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) September 12, 2023
Trump 57% (+43)
DeSantis 14%
Ramaswamy 9%
Pence 6%
Haley 6%
Christie 3%
Scott 2%
Hutchinson 0%
Burgum 0%
Hurd 0%
.@MorningConsult, 3,715 LV, 9/8-10
Former President Donald Trump has grown more popular over the past week, experiencing another small bump in favorability, the latest Morning Consult survey found. https://t.co/Cm1IJtaqVy
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 24, 2023
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in a distant second yet again, with 14 percent support. That reflects a one-point dip from last week. Overall, Trump holds a 43-point lead in the GOP primary race.
Anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy came in fourth place, five points behind DeSantis with nine percent support. This week’s survey also showed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley tying former Vice President Mike Pence for fourth place with six percent support each. That reflects a one-point bump for Haley over the last week.
More per Morning Consult:
Haley’s post-debate boost continues: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is backed by 6% of the GOP’s expected electorate, up from 3% ahead of the first Republican debate and just short of a high point reached after she launched her campaign in mid-February. This improvement has been matched by a popularity boost, with potential GOP primary voters being 31 points more likely to hold a positive than negative opinion about her.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott followed with three percent and two percent, respectively.
Both former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and South Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have failed to garner significant support, both coming in with zero percent support each.
RELATED VIDEO — Asa Hutchinson: “Donald Trump has a Moral Responsibility for What Happened on January 6th”:
That portion of the survey was taken September 8-10, among 3,715 potential Republican primary voters. It has a +/- 2 percent margin of error.
As has been consistent for weeks, a plurality of Trump supporters, 34 percent, still choose DeSantis as their second-choice candidate, while 27 percent choose Ramaswamy. Conversely, 37 percent of DeSantis supporters choose Trump as their second-choice candidate, followed by 17 percent who choose Ramaswamy, 16 percent who said Haley, and 24 percent who said Pence.
The survey comes weeks ahead of the second Republican debate, taking place September 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. As of Tuesday morning, six candidates had qualified — DeSantis, Pence, Ramaswamy, Haley, Scott, and Christie. Trump is not expected to participate.