Republican voters give a six-point edge to former President Trump over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a hypothetical 2024 GOP presidential primary matchup, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.
When given a list of 14 potential GOP candidates, 42 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters said they would vote for Trump, while 36 percent said they would vote for DeSantis, who has yet to formally announce a White House bid but is widely believed to be considering one.
Five percent said they would vote for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who announced her campaign for the presidency earlier this week, becoming the first Republican to officially challenge Trump for the nomination.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo each received 4 percent of the vote, according to the survey, which found that no other candidate listed — including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — received more than 2 percent of the vote.
Both Pence and Pompeo are considering a White House bid, but neither have made a formal announcement.
When the poll cut down the field to just Trump, DeSantis, Haley and Pence, Republican voters were more split between Trump and DeSantis, who received 43 and 41 percent of the vote, respectively. Six percent voted for Haley and 4 percent voted for Pence.
In a potential general election, registered voters were split between President Biden and Trump in a head-to-head match-up, with Biden receiving 48 percent and Trump receiving 46 percent of the vote. But between Biden and DeSantis, 47 percent supported the Florida governor in a hypothetical election and 46 percent supported Biden.
The Quinnipiac survey included 1,429 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points and was conducted between Feb. 9 to 14.