A slate of recent polls aggregated by the New York Times (NYT) show former President Donald Trump is starting to build momentum over what many consider to be his nearest rival.
Trump has expanded his lead on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a collection of recent polls, according to the NYT. The former president has built a substantial lead over DeSantis, a March 14 poll from Morning Consult shows, with Trump leading 52% to 28% in a crowded field.
Likewise, Trump leads DeSantis 46% to 32% in a Quinnipiac poll from March 15. The same pollster showed Trump holding a six-point lead over the Florida governor in February, at 42%-36%. (RELATED: Local Republican Leaders Favor DeSantis Over Trump: POLL)
DeSantis, on Defense, Shows Signs of Slipping in Pollshttps://t.co/pgFDk82B9d pic.twitter.com/RbWLUqOGaa
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) March 17, 2023
Virtually every poll reviewed by the NYT regarding the state of the 2024 GOP primary shows the same trend: Trump is pulling away from the rest of the field, including from DeSantis. Although the reason behind the poll shifts is not certain, some speculate the Florida governor’s reluctance so far to hit back at Trump’s attacks might be a contributing factor, according to the NYT.
Still, not every poll shows the former president with such a significant lead over his nearest rival. An Emerson College poll published March 17 shows Trump with a smaller three-point lead over DeSantis in a hypothetical 2024 primary, at 47% to 44%.
DeSantis’s favorability generally remains high. Seventy-two percent of Republican voters view him favorably, according to the same Quinnipiac poll, while 77% view Trump favorably.
The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,795 U.S. adults from March 9-13 with a +/- 2.3% margin of error. Morning Consult surveyed 3,556 potential Republican primary voters from March 10-12 with a +/- 2% margin of error. Emerson College surveyed 1,153 Florida voters from March 13-15 with a margin of error of +/- 2.8%.