Trump tops DeSantis by 37 points in poll of likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers

Former President Trump is way ahead in Iowa, according to a new Iowa State University/Civiqs poll finding the former president leading his rival GOP presidential candidates by a wide margin.

Fifty-one percent of the 434 respondents to the poll of prospective Iowa caucusgoers said the former president is their “first choice.” Following Trump by a wide margin was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 14 percent saying he was their top choice.

The poll also asked the respondents which candidates they “did not support.”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie faced the most backlash, with almost a third of respondents saying they did not want him as the nominee.

Other GOP candidates, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, were also well behind Trump.

“The race right now is clearly President Trump, a small second tier of four candidates — DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy, and Scott — and then a lot of candidates without much support at all. Trump’s lead is strong, but it also might be something of a ceiling because most Iowans have strong opinions about him,” said Dave Peterson, Lucken professor of political science at Iowa University and organizer of the poll.

Iowa, traditionally the first state on the calendar when it comes to primary season, will hold its GOP caucuses Jan. 15.

Democrats have decided to put South Carolina as their first state of the season this year. The Palmetto State’s Democratic primary is scheduled for Feb. 3.

The poll had a margin of error of 5.8 percentage points and was fielded between Sept. 2-7.