Former President Trump has the backing of nearly half of Republican voters in Utah and is leading the field of his fellow GOP presidential contenders by 30 points, according to a new poll.
Tuesday’s Noble Predictive Insights (NPI) poll found 48 percent of Utah Republican voters support Trump — though he snagged just 14 percent in the state’s presidential caucuses when he ran for the White House in 2016.
“Our data shows that even in Utah — once a bastion of conservative resistance to Trump — the former president is gaining ground,” NPI Chief of Research David Byler said in a release.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has long been noted as Trump’s closest competitor, came in second with 18 percent, followed by Trump’s former running mate, former Vice President Mike Pence, with 10 percent.
In a head-to-head hypothetical contest between Trump and DeSantis, the former president stays the winner with 48 percent, while DeSantis has 29 percent support.
“DeSantis has struggled to find a compelling message or excite the grassroots, and many Republicans rallied to Trump in the aftermath of his indictments,” Byler said. “There’s still time for this primary to shift, but Trump’s position has clearly improved.”
The rest of the candidates in the GOP race scored in the single digits, with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy earning the highest among them at 6 percent.
The results come as qualifying GOP presidential candidates prepare to gather in Milwaukee on Wednesday for the party’s first primary debate. Trump confirmed Sunday he will skip the debate, citing his lead in polling.
Conducted July 7-18, the poll surveyed 301 Utah registered Republican voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.65 percentage points for the group.