Former President Donald Trump continued to dominate the field of Republican candidates ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Here's a look at the latest.
What Happened: Trump continued to generate headlines with a civil fraud lawsuit from the state of New York against The Trump Organization, which saw the former president and several of his children on the witness stand in recent weeks.
Despite multiple courtroom appearances and a calendar full of court dates alongside his 2024 presidential campaign, Republican voters appeared to be unphased by Trump's legal challenges.
Trump maintained strong backing from Republican voters and was the odds-on favorite to win the 2024 GOP nomination, barring any future setbacks or surges from rival opponents.
The latest Morning Consult poll of GOP voters showed Trump with a comfortable lead over his Republican opponents.
Here's a look at who Republican voters would vote for today, with the percentage from last week in parentheses.
Donald Trump: 64% (63%)
Ron DeSantis: 14% (15%)
Nikki Haley: 9% (8%)
Vivek Ramaswamy: 6% (7%)
Chris Christie: 2% (3%)
Asa Hutchinson: 1% (1%)
Doug Burgum: 1% (1%)
In the latest poll, Trump had a 50-point lead, which was one of his largest in recent weeks. Over the past 10 weeks, Trump had a lead of at least 43 points each week over his Republican competitors.
Related Link: Chris Christie Blasts Warren Buffett on Social Security
Why It's Important: The 64% support for Trump marked one of the highest for the former president since polling began in December.
Trump gained one point from the previous poll, which comes after he skipped out on the third Republican primary debate.
The debate, which aired on Comcast Corporation CMCSA-owned NBC and was streamed on Rumble Inc RUM, saw five candidates take the stage. DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy, Christie and Tim Scott were the candidates featured in the event.
One poll found Haley as the winner of the third debate and Ramaswamy as the loser. The latest Morning Consult reflected sentiment with Haley gaining one point and Ramaswamy losing one point.
Haley ranked third in the poll for five straight weeks and continued to distance herself from Ramaswamy and edged closer to DeSantis.
While Trump and Haley both gained one point in the latest poll, other candidates including Ramaswamy, Christie and DeSantis all lost points.
The latest Morning Consult poll was conducted prior to the news that Scott had dropped out of the Republican presidential race. Scott was polling with around 2% of support from Republican voters. That 2% will shift to other candidates in the next poll.
When Mike Pence dropped out, Trump, DeSantis and Haley each gained support potentially from voters who preferred the former vice president.
Read Next: 2024 Presidential Election Betting Odds, Trump Now The Favorite
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