More than half of Iowa Republicans support Donald Trump, giving the former president a commanding lead heading into Monday's state caucuses, a new Emerson College poll found.
Trump has the backing of 55% of Iowa GOP caucus voters, followed by former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (21%) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (15%), according to Emerson College Polling results.
Another 5% support entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 2% back former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and 4% are undecided.
Iowa's caucuses kick off the 2024 primary season. They will be followed by the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary, the Feb. 8 Nevada caucuses, and the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary.
Trump's support in Iowa has grown 5 points since Emerson's December survey. Haley's support increased 4 points, and DeSantis' support remained the same.
"We don't expect any big surprises on Monday, with most voters saying they will not change their minds ahead of tomorrow's caucus," Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said Sunday.
"In the past several months, no candidate has been able to chip away at Trump's solid base of support in the caucus. While the race for second place has become more competitive among older and college educated voters, Trump maintains at least a plurality of support over Haley and DeSantis among these groups, making it difficult for DeSantis or Haley to secure the base needed to be formidable competitors in Iowa."
The Emerson poll results found that Trump's Iowa support is greatest (69%) among voters whose highest degree of education is high school or less.
Haley performs her strongest (34%) among those with postgraduate degrees, but still trails Trump (43%) in the group.
A total of 61% of Republican caucus voters under age 30 said they would vote for Trump, compared to 51% of those in their 30s; 60% of those in their 40s; 45% of those in their 50s; 60% of those in their 60s; and 59% of those over 70.
DeSantis is his strongest (23%) among voters in their 50s, while 19% of these voters support Haley. Haley's strongest (28%) age group is voters over 70.
Trump leads with 56% support among Iowa male voters and 54% among the state's female voters. Haley has 21% of the male vote and 20% of the female vote.
"Trump has the support of the Iowa Republican evangelical community and the non-evangelical community," Kimball said. "His support among evangelicals is 3 points higher than among nonevangelicals, 56% to 53%, while 18% of evangelicals support Haley, and 16% DeSantis. Among nonevangelical voters, 26% support Haley and 12% DeSantis."
The Emerson College survey was conducted Jan. 11-13 among 899 Iowa voters.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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