Trump Still On Top Of GOP Poll: A Look At The Impact Of DeSantis, Pence, Christie 2024 Election Announcements

Over a year to go before the 2024 election and more candidates are announcing their campaigns for the highly contested race to be the next president of the United States.

Here’s a look at how former President Donald Trump shapes up against new GOP competitors.

What Happened: The 2024 election is expected to be a fierce head-to-head battle between Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the GOP nomination. With DeSantis officially announcing his 2024 presidential election campaign, the picture is becoming clearer.

The GOP presidential field for the 2024 election now includes Trump, DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Larry Elder, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott.

Among the most recent announcements are former Vice President Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, once a Trump ally.

The latest Morning Consult poll of Republican voters shows despite new additions to the field, Trump still has a comfortable and sizable lead over the competition.

Here are the latest percentages of voters who would pick a Republican candidate:

Donald Trump: 56%

Ron DeSantis: 22%

Mike Pence: 7%

Nikki Haley: 3%

Tim Scott: 3%

Vivek Ramaswamy: 3%

Liz Cheney: 2%

Chris Christie: 1%

Several other candidates also received 1% of the vote. The poll shows Trump has a 34-point lead, similar to last week when DeSantis saw a 43 point gap partially narrowed after the Florida governor announced his campaign.

Newcomers Pence, Scott and Christie have not grabbed a large base of the vote. Pence did see his support increase from 5% last week to 7% in the latest poll.

Another change, which comes after the debt ceiling bill was passed, is President Joe Biden ranking better in the Morning Consult’s hypothetical matchup against top GOP contenders. In the latest poll, Biden held a 43% to 41% advantage to Trump and a 43% to 40% advantage to DeSantis. Trump was even with Biden in last week’s poll.

Related Link: Trump Dominates South Carolina Poll, Beating State's Former Governor And Current Senator 

Why It’s Important: Since declaring his campaign for the 2024 election in November, Trump has led the way in the polls and strengthened his lead.

Seen as his top competition, DeSantis ranked 17 points behind Trump in February and 25 points behind Trump in March in the same poll. The lead has now widened and new candidates entering the race could be hurting DeSantis more than pulling support from Trump.

In the favorability rankings, Trump is shown with 75% favorable and 23% unfavorable. DeSantis has 68% favorable and 19% unfavorable. Pence, who recently entered the race officially, has 57% favorable and 32% unfavorable.

As the race continues to heat up, one of the key areas to watch is the overall support of Trump in the Morning Consult being above 50%. Another key is the gap between Trump and DeSantis to see if the Florida governor can close the gap to predict a closer race.

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