A weekly Morning Consult poll highlighted one of the most important difficulties facing some of the GOP presidential primary candidates: getting voters’ attention.
Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are the only candidates with solid voter support:
Besides Trump and DeSantis, GOP presidential candidates are having a tough time getting the attention of the party’s expected electorate.
The poll found that more than half of likely Republican voters have "heard nothing" about any of the other candidates. Among them: Vivek Ramaswamy (54%), Mike Pence (57%), Chris Christie (59%), Tim Scott (65%) and Nikki Haley (65%).
Besides Trump and DeSantis, GOP presidential candidates are having a tough time getting the attention of the party’s expected electorate, according to our weekly tracker update. https://t.co/zpObC29kvJ pic.twitter.com/TkJMpokQrV
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) July 18, 2023
Trump, the most popular candidate and "with a formidable lead"
Former President Trump has the highest support among Republican voters (55%). This percentage gives him a 35-point lead over DeSantis (20%). Of the other contenders, businessman Ramaswamy has the support of 8% of voters, followed by Pence (7%), Haley (4%), Scott (3%) and Christie (2%).
Asa Hutchinson (former governor of Arkansas), Doug Burgum (governor of North Dakota), Francis Suarez (mayor of Miami) and Will Hurd (former congressman), have 0% support.
DeSantis is considered "the second choice" of the 40% of voters who publicly back Trump. The numbers are nearly the same in the opposite case, 41% of the Florida governor's supporters see Trump as their next choice.
Trump is also the most popular candidate among 73% of Republican voters, only 25% view him unfavorably. The majority of voters (64%) also have favorable views of DeSantis, while 21% have unfavorable views.
