Trump widens lead over DeSantis in GOP primary: poll

Former President Donald Trump is widening his lead over the rest of the Republican primary field, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.

In a hypothetical nine-way Republican presidential primary, Trump takes 58 percent support among GOP voters, adding 3 percentage points to his already-staggering lead since last month. His closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, notched only 16 percent in the survey – a 4-point downturn since the previous survey.

No other candidate, declared or potential, comes anywhere close to Trump or DeSantis. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence, who hasn’t yet announced a campaign, are tied for third place at just 4 percent, the poll found.

The poll, which was released just days before DeSantis is expected to formally jump into the 2024 presidential race, suggests that the Florida governor has yet to recover after facing weeks of missteps and attacks from Trump.

Yet most Republican voters still believe that DeSantis poses a serious threat to Trump as the two get ready to compete for the GOP’s 2024 nomination. Fifty-seven percent said that the governor appears ready to put up a real challenge to the former president, while 43 percent said that they believe DeSantis’s prospects are fading.

“Desantis is announcing in a much more difficult environment than a few months ago but most voters believe he can still mount a serious challenge to…Trump,” Mark Penn, the co-director of the poll, said.

DeSantis is expected to jump into the race sometime next week. In recent days, he’s made appearances in key early primary and caucus states like Iowa and New Hampshire, and recently moved his political shop into a new office in Tallahassee.

He’s also slated to huddle with donors and top supporters in Miami next week shortly after filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission declaring his candidacy.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey was conducted May 17-18 and surveyed 2,004 registered voters. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll.

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.