Former President Donald Trump leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott (RS.C.) in new poll of Republican caucuses in Iowa has 42% support.
A Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa poll of 406 Republican candidates, conducted Aug. 13-17, showed Trump leading DeSantis by 23 points. garnered 19% support.
Scott came in third with 9% of the vote, followed by former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence tied for fourth with 6%. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie received 5% support, while 4% of respondents said they supported tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
While several indicators point to Trump’s strength at this stage, J. Ann Seltzer, president of Seltzer & Co., which conducted the poll, told the Des Moines Register that the campaign “seems It may be closer than it was,” he said, suggesting: A lot could change in the roughly five months leading up to the caucuses on January 15th.
Critics accuse DeSantis of Trump’s comments sounding like ‘crooked Hillary’
Former President Donald Trump throws his hat in the air as supporters cheer at the 2023 Iowa State Fair on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. (Demetrius Freeman/Washington Post via Getty Images)
A poll found that 63% of potential Republican caucus attendees said they supported Mr. Trump as a first or second choice, or were actively considering the former president.
That’s just a little more than the 61% who said the same for Mr. DeSantis.
The poll also found that Trump’s fourth indictment, handed down by a grand jury in Georgia on Aug. 15, appears to have increased his influence in Iowa. After the Fulton County indictment was announced, Trump’s approval ratings rose 12 percentage points from 55% to 67% as first- and second-choice candidates and those actively considering him. . At the time polls were being conducted before the indictment, Trump led DeSantis 38% to 20%. A subsequent poll showed Trump’s lead widening to 43%, up from DeSantis’ 18%.
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis meets and greets passing through the Iowa State Fair on August 12, 2023. (Ricky Carioti/Washington Post via Getty Images)
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A majority (52%) of potential Republican caucus attendees said the president had a primary candidate and could still be confident they would support another Republican candidate. The Iowa poll, believed to be the first test of 14 Republican candidates vying to face President Biden, found 40% of respondents had already decided on their candidate. .
Seven percent of respondents said they were only considering one presidential candidate. The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, said 17% of respondents were considering two candidates. 19% said he had 3 and 55% said he had 4 or more.
Former President Donald Trump greets visitors at the Iowa Pork Producers booth during the 2023 Iowa State Fair on Saturday, August 12, 2023. (Demetrius Freeman/Washington Post via Getty Images)
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65% of potential Republican caucus attendees say finding a candidate who is closest to their views on the issue is most important, and 29% are most likely to win against Biden He said the most important thing is choosing a candidate. Fox News will host the first Republican preliminary debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
