Monmouth poll finds Trump making significant gains on DeSantis among Republicans

Former President Trump is making significant gains over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and other Republicans in a hypothetical Republican primary, according to a new poll. 

The results of a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday showed Trump leading DeSantis by 14 points, 41 percent to 27 percent, when respondents were asked who they want to see win the GOP nomination. That’s a major improvement for Trump from Monmouth’s poll last month that found him and DeSantis tied at 33 percent each. 

Trump also leads DeSantis in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup by 1 point, 47 percent to 46 percent. But that is also a notable improvement for the former president from last month DeSantis led Trump by 13 points, 53 percent to 40 percent. 

Trump significantly gained voters among many major demographic groups surveyed. He trailed DeSantis by 21 points among those under 65 years old last month but now leads by 5 points and shrunk his deficit among people making more than $50,000 per year from 28 points to 2 points. 

The pollsters found Trump’s strongest support comes from those who consider themselves strong supporters of the “Make America Great Again” movement, with almost three quarters of them preferring him to DeSantis. 

DeSantis, who has been rumored as a potential presidential candidate but not confirmed he is considering running, has an advantage among Republicans who only somewhat support the MAGA movement by about 30 points and those who do not support the movement by about 25 points. 

“The movement Trump created is sticking by their standard-bearer. That’s enough for Trump to overcome weaker support among the less MAGA portion of the Republican electorate, at least for now,” Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a release. 

The release notes that most of the interviews for the poll happened before reports surfaced about Trump potentially being indicted in New York. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigated a hush-money payment that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He is expected to make a decision about whether to file charges against Trump imminently. 

Trump and DeSantis are both viewed overwhelmingly favorably by Republicans, with 71 percent saying they view Trump favorably and 76 percent saying they view DeSantis favorably. 

In a hypothetical race of several current and potential Republican candidates for president, only former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley received more than 1 percent support. She came in third behind Trump and DeSantis with 3 percent. 

The poll was conducted from March 16 to 20 among 521 Republican and Republican-leaning voters. The margin of error was 6.6 percent.