Trump leads GOP field by 56 points in Kentucky: poll

Former President Trump is far and away the leading candidate for Kentucky Republicans, according to a new poll that showed him with a 56-point advantage over the rest of the field.

Trump secured the support of 70 percent of respondents in a survey from Emerson College Polling/Fox 56 Lexington of Republican primary voters in Kentucky. The former president was followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who got 14 percent support.

The survey results represented a sizable shift toward Trump since April, with the former president picking up 8 percent more support than last month. DeSantis’s support slid by 9 percent.

The poll also found that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), who Trump has endorsed, is leading a crowded Republican primary field for governor. Cameron garnered 33 percent support, which was nearly 16 points higher than the next candidate. 

Almost 13 percent of voters were still undecided in the GOP primary contest. The primary election is Tuesday.

The survey was partly conducted after Trump’s highly criticized appearance at a town hall hosted by CNN, in which he doubled down on lies about the integrity of the 2020 election and attacked detractors. While some Republicans responded negatively to the town hall, others, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), praised the former president for his performance.

The slide by DeSantis comes as he has yet to announce a campaign, though he is widely expected to run. He has been locked in a high-profile feud with Disney, which has garnered criticism from national Republicans.

The poll of 500 very likely Republican primary voters in the state was conducted between April 10-12 and had a margin of error of 4.3 percent.