Former President Donald Trump leads undeclared Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by double digits in the latest polls for the Republican presidential nomination in Arizona and Tennessee, including a 34-percentage-point advantage in the Volunteer State, where he has more than half of the electorate.
In a survey of 1,003 registered voters sampled by Vanderbilt University April 19-23, Trump was the preferred choice by 59% of Tennessee Republicans in a multicandidate field, with 25% choosing DeSantis. Former Vice President Mike Pence received 5%, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley 4%, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott 3%, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson 2%.
In Arizona, a sampling of 1,000 registered voters (371 of whom were Republicans) April 4-11 by Noble Predictive Insights, just under half (49%) wanted Trump, 21% picked DeSantis, 7% chose Pence, and 4% each chose Haley and former Rep. Liz Cheney. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio received 3%, and 1% each went for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, New Hampshire Gov. Mike Sununu, and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
The Arizona numbers showed that Trump had picked up 7% from Noble's February poll, while DeSantis had slipped 5%. It also showed that DeSantis was the pick of the college-educated and party loyalists.
In a head-to-head matchup in Tennessee, the Vanderbilt survey showed Trump had reversed the results of the fall, when DeSantis led the former president 54-41. In the new one-on-one poll, Trump led 57-38.
Against incumbent President Joe Biden, Trump led in Tennessee 42-26, with 5% more (31%) choosing "someone else" over Biden.
Between DeSantis and Biden, the Florida Republican was the choice 33-24, with 40% preferring someone else.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.