Benzinga - The race for the 2024 presidential election continues to intensify and could see an exciting head-to-head battle for the Republican nomination. Here’s the latest poll data.
What Happened: Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are the two leading candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential primary. While DeSantis has not officially declared his campaign, he has been touring the country and setting the stage for a 2024 run.
New polls from New Hampshire and Iowa show DeSantis gaining momentum and ranking high compared to Trump.
In Iowa, DeSantis recently saw 45% of support among Republican voters, according to a poll from Public Opinion Strategies in March, as shared by Axios.
In the same poll, Trump received 37% of Republican votes.
The poll gave potential voters only two potential candidates: DeSantis and Trump.
In New Hampshire, Republican voters were mixed on DeSantis and Trump in the hypothetical head-to-head matchup, with each candidate getting 39% of the vote.
DeSantis had a favorable rating of 81% in Iowa and a favorable rating of 77% in New Hampshire. The Florida governor received unfavorable ratings of 11% and 15% in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively.
Trump had a favorable rating of 74% in Iowa and 69% in New Hampshire. Trump’s unfavorable rating was 24% in Iowa and 29% in New Hampshire.
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Why It’s Important: Outside of the head-to-head battles, polls conducted giving voters more than two options saw a different result.
In Iowa, DeSantis and Trump tied when voters could pick from other candidates like Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.
In New Hampshire, DeSantis trails Trump by 12 points when other candidates are listed.
The new polls show DeSantis performing better in Iowa and New Hampshire than most other states and major national polls.
The trend continues to emerge that Trump does better in polls and hypothetical matchups of more than two Republican candidates. This could spell trouble for DeSantis as more potential candidates enter the mix.
Trump won the 2016 Republican nomination in a primary with over a dozen candidates at the start of the race.
While the 2024 election is over a year-and-a-half away, polls will continue to show how voters are favoriting potential candidates and could provide a glimpse at what the election will look like.
Read Next: Joe Biden Is Now The Betting Favorite For 2024 Presidential Election, Here's Where DeSantis And Trump Rank
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