Trump expands lead over GOP to largest yet: poll

Former President Trump has expanded his lead among a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary field in a new poll, holding a 41-point advantage over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who hasn’t yet officially launched a bid. 

A Morning Consult survey released Tuesday found Trump in the lead with 60 percent of potential Republican primary voters, followed by DeSantis with 19 percent. 

The pair were the clear frontrunners in the poll, with former Vice President Mike Pence and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy next up, earning 5 percent of voters apiece. Ramaswamy has officially entered the race, but Pence hasn’t yet said whether he’ll run.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was the first big-name Republican to get in the 2024 ring with Trump, snagged just 3 percent in the poll — followed by former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who hasn’t declared a campaign, with 2 percent. 

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who entered the White House race last month, earned just 1 percent.  

DeSantis has long polled as a top potential 2024 contender to challenge Trump, though recent polling has has suggested the former president is is pulling ahead of the Florida governor, who has said he plans to make a 2024 decision “relatively soon.”

Forty-two percent of the potential Republican primary voters responding to the poll who picked Trump as their first choice chose DeSantis as their second — and 43 percent of those who picked DeSantis first said Trump was their backup choice.

Conducted between May 5-7, the poll surveyed 3,574 potential Republican primary voters and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2 percentage points.