Poll: 58% of GOP Primary Voters Support Trump, Another 14% Considering Backing Him

Former President Donald Trump, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPA
AP Photo/John Raoux
Nick Gilbertson

Nealy 60 percent of likely Republican primary voters support former President Donald J. Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, while another 14 percent are considering voting for him, according to a poll.

The YouGov poll commissioned by CBS News asked likely Republican primary voters who they are considering supporting in the Republican primary, finding that 73 percent of the populace is thinking about voting for Trump — this includes 24 percent of the GOP electorate who are not even considering another candidate, as CBS News noted. Notably, a graphic from the outlet shows this figure is 78 percent, while the YouGov top-lines list 73 percent — a discrepancy between the pollster and CBS. Another 14 percent say they might consider voting for Trump, but they need to hear more.

Respondents were also asked who they would vote for if their state’s primary were today, finding 58 percent of them chose Trump. He sits 36 points ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) at 22 percent of support. Moreover, Desantis’s considerers cap at 51 percent, putting him in second on that front but still 22 percentage points back of the 45th president. No other candidate has the consideration of more than 20 percent of the electorate, though strong pluralities say they would consider backing them if they hear more.

Of respondents, 19 percent say they are considering voting for former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), 17 percent are thinking of backing former Vice President Mike Pence, and 16 percent are weighing support for entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Another thirteen percent are considering voting for Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who is set to announce a decision on his candidacy later this month, or Larry Elder, who jumped in the race last month. Just eight and seven percent are thinking about backing former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) or former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), respectively.

None of these candidates, or potential candidates, eclipsed the double-digit threshold of support when respondents were asked who they would back if their state’s primary were today. Pence and Ramaswamy each take five percent of the response, followed by Haley at four percent. Two percent of respondents back Elder and Christie, while Scott and Hutchinson hold one percent of support.

Republicans were also asked what they would like in their presidential nominee, finding the top answer is someone who “Challenges ‘woke’ ideas” with 85 percent of the response. The second most popular answer was a nominee who “Opposes any gun restriction” (66 percent), followed by someone who “Says Trump won the 2020 election” (61 percent).

When asked for the reasons they are supporting Trump, 94 percent of those who back him say his previous “performance as President.” “He fights for people like me” is another motive that draws 94 percent of the response of Trump supporters. The other top reasons are “He would beat Joe Biden” (84 percent) and “How he deals with political opponents” (82 percent). 

The full poll, which includes samples outside of the Republican primary, included 2,372 U.S. adults. YouGov conducted the survey from April 27-29. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 5.4 percentage points.

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