Former President Trump has an overwhelming 42-point lead in a Iowa caucus poll of GOP Primary contenders released Thursday.
In the Emerson College Polling survey, Trump is leading a field of likely 2024 Republican primary candidates with 62 percent of the vote. The second-highest share of votes went to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who accumulated 20 percent of the vote in a hypothetical Iowa caucus.
The poll was conducted May 19-22, just before Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) launched his campaign for the White House on Monday and DeSantis officially launched his bid Wednesday night amid a glitch-ridden campaign announcement on Twitter.
“Trump’s lead in the caucus reflects his numbers in Emerson’s March New Hampshire primary poll, where he held a 41-point lead over DeSantis,” Spencer Kimball, Executive Director of Emerson College Polling, said. “The former president’s base continues to be voters under 35: 75 percent of whom support Trump, and voters without a college degree: 70 percent support Trump. DeSantis’s support is higher among voters with a postgraduate degree, with 29 percent support, still trailing Trump’s 37 percent with this group.”
Trump and DeSantis were the only candidates to hit double digits in the poll.
Former Vice President Mike Pence — who has not officially launched a campaign — and GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley each received 5 percent of the voting share.
Scott received 3 percent of the vote, and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy received 2 percent.
President Biden held a 69-percent share of the votes in a Democratic Iowa Caucus, which is well ahead of other Democratic presidential candidates Robert Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson, who garnered 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
The poll was conducted May 19-22 among 1,064 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.