Former President Donald Trump continues to exhibit a strong hold on the Republican primary landscape, as evidenced by a recent Fox News survey indicating his dominant position with a remarkable 69 percent support among GOP voters. Trump’s unwavering popularity among Republicans has surged by 26 points since February, consolidating his status as the unequivocal favorite among potential primary contenders.
The survey portrays a significant disparity in support between Trump and his GOP rivals, with less than a third of Republican primary voters throwing their support behind the entirety of Trump’s opponents combined. While figures like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley hold some support, their numbers pale in comparison, marking a diminishing trend in support for all Trump opponents except for former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Moreover, Trump’s appeal extends beyond the primary arena, as indicated by hypothetical general election matchups against President Joe Biden. In these scenarios, Trump emerges ahead of Biden by a notable four-point margin among respondents, aligning with similar trends observed in various national polls, including Reuters/Ipsos and Messenger/Harris polls, where Trump maintains a lead against Biden.
While the survey paints a favorable picture for Trump, it also introduces an intriguing perspective with Haley slightly outperforming Trump in hypothetical general election polls, notably surpassing Biden by six points. Additionally, the survey indicates a tie between DeSantis and Biden, a shift from previous trends where Biden held a narrow lead over the mentioned contenders.
A notable revelation from the survey involves a small percentage of Biden’s 2020 voters showing inclination to defect to the Republican side in a hypothetical matchup against Trump. This phenomenon indicates a potential inclination among a fraction of Biden’s previous supporters to reconsider their allegiance in the next election cycle.
Conducted from December 10-13 by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research for Fox News, the survey interviewed 1,007 randomly selected registered voters nationwide. It holds a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for all registered voters, plus or minus 4.5 points for Democratic primary voters, and 5 points for Republican primary voters, signifying the broad insights drawn from this comprehensive sample.