According to a Harvard CAPS-Harris survey released to The Hill, former President Donald Trump still has outsized support among GOP voters in a hypothetical 2024 primary vote that had him competing against seven other potential candidates, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Forty-eight percent of participants said they would back Trump, compared to only 28 percent who would support DeSantis — the widest gap any poll places between the GOP’s most likely frontrunners.
Yet, DeSantis’s support is a three percentage point improvement from last month’s polling figures, showing growing support for the Florida Governor.
Like other polls, all the rest of the potential 2024 candidates fail to break the double-digit mark.
Former Vice President Mike Pence only managed seven percent support, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who both received 3 percent support.
The poll underscores how the former President has maintained his support among Republican voters, even as questions have surfaced about his influence following the GOP’s dismal performance in the midterm elections.
Many GOP and conservative pundits believed the cross-the-board losses by many of Trump’s endorsed candidates meant it was time for the party to look to a new generation of leadership.
When Trump isn’t in the running, support for DeSantis jumps to 49 percent, with Pence getting 14 percent support.
In a head-to-head match-up between Trump and DeSantis, Trump got 55 percent support, while DeSantis received 45 percent.
Trump has already announced his 2024 bid, while DeSantis’s bid remains speculative.
