More than 8 in 10 Republican respondents say they are either supporting former President Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for the GOP nomination for president in 2024 or are open to doing so, according to a poll.
The CNN survey released Wednesday, ahead of DeSantis’s official announcement, showed Trump with a significant lead over his current and potential opponents for the nomination, with support from 53 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters. DeSantis comes in second at 26 percent, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley with 6 percent each and other possible choices with 2 percent or less.
But the polling also showed Trump and DeSantis with a much higher number of potential supporters than their current and possible opponents.
About 85 percent of respondents said they are currently supporting or would consider supporting Trump or DeSantis. More than 30 percent said they do not currently support Trump but are open to it, and nearly 60 percent said they do not currently back DeSantis but would consider doing so.
The results come as DeSantis is set to announce his bid for the White House on Wednesday after months of speculation that he would enter the race. The Florida governor has consistently placed in second in most polling of Republican primary voters.
Pollsters also found at least a majority of respondents indicating they support or would be willing to support Pence, Haley and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). Scott officially kicked off his presidential campaign Monday.
About 60 percent said they support or would consider supporting Haley or Scott, while 54 percent said they support or would consider supporting Pence.
Almost three-quarters of respondents said they feel very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the current field of Republican candidates, while 27 percent said they feel not too satisfied or not satisfied at all.
The poll was conducted from May 17 to 20 among 1,227 adults, including 476 registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. The margin of error among the Republican and Republican-leaning voters was plus or minus 5.8 points.