Trump sees support drop among Iowa Republicans

Former President Trump is seeing his support drop among Iowa Republicans since last year, according to new polling. 

A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released on Friday found 47 percent of Republican respondents in the state said they would definitely vote for Trump as president if he were the 2024 GOP nominee, compared to 69 percent who said the same in June 2021. 

The poll overall found that 74 percent of Iowa Republican respondents would definitely or probably vote for Trump if he were Republican presidential nominee next year, compared to 84 percent who said the same last June. 

The polling suggested that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), widely speculated to be gearing up for a 2024 White House bid, is seen as Trump’s most formidable challenger. Forty-two percent of Republicans polled said they had “very favorable” views of DeSantis in addition to 44 percent who said the same about Trump.

Overall, 80 percent of Republicans surveyed had very or mostly favorable views of Trump while 75 percent said the same of DeSantis. 

When asked about former Vice President Pence, another widely speculated GOP nominee, and former U.S. ambassador to U.N. Nikki Haley, 66 percent and 53 percent of respondents respectively said they had very or favorable views of each Republican.

The polling comes as Haley and Pence have made visits to the early presidential primary state in past weeks and as DeSantis visited Iowa on Friday. Trump is expected to visit the Hawkeye State on Monday. 

Iowa’s caucus is crucial for Republican candidates given it serves as one of the first indicators of how well presidential candidates will perform. Trump announced his leadership team in the state last month as the former president seeks to grow his support in Iowa ahead of the early caucus. 

The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll surveyed 257 Iowa Republicans from March 5 to 8. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.1 percentage points.