Ky. Poll: Trump Surges to 56.6-Point Lead on DeSantis

The power of former President Donald Trump in Kentucky is getting stronger, according to the latest Emerson College Polling/Fox 56 Lexington poll.

Not only is Trump pulling 70.3% majority support in the GOP primary race, but Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is at just 13.7%. Trump has gained nearly 18 points on his 56.6 percentage-point advantage since the last poll in April (then a 39-point lead).

Notably, DeSantis dropped almost 10 points from April, while Trump support ticked up more than 8 points.

The full GOP primary polling result:

1. Trump 70.3%
2. DeSantis 13.7%
3. Former Vice President Mike Pence 4.4%
4. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley 3.2%
5. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy 2.8.
6. Someone else 2.6%
7. Former N.J. GOP Gov. Chris Christie 1.5%
8. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. 0.8%
9. N.H. GOP Gov. Chris Sununu 0.4%
10. Former Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson 0.4%

Trump's strength in Kentucky also is seen down the ballot with the impact his endorsement has on other races, according to Emerson College Polling Executive Director Spence Kimball.

"The Trump endorsement's impact has increased since last month: 48% of Republican voters say Trump's endorsement of a candidate makes them more likely to vote for that candidate," Kimball wrote in a statement. "Forty-one percent say it makes no difference on their vote, and 12% find it makes them less likely to support a candidate."

The economy remains the key issue for likely Kentucky Republican voters (48%), with crime (10%), education (10%), "threats to democracy" (8%), immigration (8%), and healthcare (7%) distant also-rans.

Education is increasingly becoming a key issue for Republican voters, particularly in the realm of woke indoctrination, which voters say is the most important Kentucky education issue (42%) over classroom/student safety (20%), teacher pay (16%), and teacher shortages (11%).

Trump's messaging on election integrity issues resonate strongly among Kentucky Republican likely voters. Just 21% say President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election was legitimate; 79% say it was not.

Emerson College Polling/Fox 56 Lexington polled 500 very likely Republican primary voters May 10-12, and the results had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

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