Former President Donald Trump is holding a double-digit lead of 15 percentage points over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a new poll released Thursday of likely Republican Iowa Caucus voters.
The poll, conducted by National Research Inc. for the publication American Greatness, puts Trump in front with 39% of the voters, compared to 24% for DeSantis.
The publication reports the poll was the first independent survey of Republican Iowa Caucus voters that has been released since DeSantis' campaign announcement, and shows that he has lost support since that time.
The poll also found that voters see Trump as being stronger on the economy, empathy, the fight against progressives, and the ability to defeat President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential race.
According to the poll results, Trump's numbers also dropped slightly from a similar survey released in May, when he netted 44% of the voters.
DeSantis' numbers dropped by 2 percentage points, from 26% in May to 24%.
In other numbers:
- Nikki Haley: 4% in June; 6% in May.
- Vivek Ramaswamy: 1% in June; 3% in May.
- Asa Hutchinson: 0% in June; 1% in May.
- Mike Pence: 4% in both June and May.
- Tim Scott: 5% in June; 1% in May.
- Chris Christie: 2% in June; n/a in May
- Chris Sununu: N/A both months.
- Undecided/Others: 21% in June; 15% in May.
The poll also determined that voters who are favorable to DeSantis are also splitting the vote between him and Trump.
The former president is holding a 16-point lead over DeSantis among those who have a favorable opinion of both men, the poll shows. It also found that Trump holds an 8-point lead with voters who the DeSantis campaign has visited.
The poll was conducted on June 5-7 of 500 likely Iowa Republican voters, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.38%, at the 95% confidence interval.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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