President Donald Trump will continue to retain a great deal of influence over the Republican Party and is the heavy favorite to become the 2024 GOP nominee if his challenges to the Nov. 3 election fail and he leaves the White House, a majority of party voters say in a new poll.
According to the poll from Morning Consult/Politico, Trump tops an early, hypothetical list of 14 potential candidates, and 68% of Republican voters said they consider Trump to be the most in touch with the party's rank and file members.
The poll, conducted from Nov. 21-23 among 669 Republicans and 1,990 voters overall, comes as Trump and many in the party are challenging the election. Newsmax has not called the election.
The poll also showed:
- 71% of Republican voters say Trump is effective and committed to the country's best interests, but just 17% say the same of congressional Republicans.
- 56% say Trump is predominantly looking out for the party’s best interests.
- 54% said they'd back Trump in a primary contest.
- 12% said they'd back Vice President Mike Pence.
- 8% would back Donald Trump Jr. against his father.
- 4% of Republicans each said they would support Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
- Other Republicans such as Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Rick Scott of Florida, or Josh Hawley of Missouri — received even less backing.
- Compared to a July 2017 poll, the share of GOP voters who said Republicans in Congress fear Trump fell 5 points, to 25%.
- The shares who said Republican lawmakers respect, listen to, and want to work with Trump increased by double digits.
Trump is already showing he wants to keep his influence by keeping Ronna McDaniel to chair the Republican National Committee, reports the poll, and he has already established a political action committee.
The poll carried a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
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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