New Poll Shows Trump Leading DeSantis, Haley in GOP Presidential Nomination Race

Apoll by the Wall Street Journal showed Donald Trump, the former US president, gained a lead over Florida governor Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential-nomination race.

The poll shows Trump continues to build support across most of the primary electorate, signalling that DeSantis is struggling on the national level.

The poll shows that 51% of the likely Republican primary voters favour Donald Trump over DeSantis, who was favoured by 38% respondents.

DeSantis started out with a 14-point advantage in December following his re-election as Florida governor but it fell to a 13-point deficit.

Trump stood out in a potential field of 12 Republican contenders, amassing 48% support.

DeSantis took the second-place with 24% support, followed by Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, who received 5% support. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott received support from 3% of the respondents of the poll.

The Wall Street Journal in a report pointed out that DeSantis’ drop could be due to several reasons. One, him not choosing to engage with Trump could be affecting his electoral chances. The Florida governor has hardly responded directly to the attacks by the former president.

Also, DeSantis’ calling the war in Ukraine a “territorial dispute” has also angered a section of the voters. It should be noted that Trump’s stance is not very different from that of DeSantis as the former advocates less support – military and economic – for the regime in Kyiv.

The report by the news agency also pointed to Trump stepping up campaign activity, citing that it has helped him gain ground among Republican voters. The criminal charges filed against him have failed to dent his image among Republican voters.

The poll said that voters who identified themselves as “very conservative” were found to be leaning towards Trump and this group forms half of the GOP primary electorate.

Women and college graduates who vote Republican have also sided with Trump.

The polls, however, show that 84%Republican voters think DeSantis carries a more positive image than Trump and 41% of Republican primary voters also feel DeSantis would have the better chance of beating US President Joe Biden.