Former President Donald Trump showed a significant early lead in a number of crucial states for the 2024 Republican nomination. The former president’s lead shows persistent loyalty from a large part of the GOP base about five months before the first nominating contests.
According to a recent Manhattan Institute Poll, the former president leads in three of the first contests, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Traditionally, momentum from winning or losing these three contests is a major factor in which a candidate receives the presidential nomination.
In Iowa, Trump holds the largest lead of the three early states. Here, he holds 42% to the 17% for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Coming in third was Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who pulled 10%. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy also polled among the leaders, with 6% while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) ranked fifth with 5%.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Trump 34% (+21)
DeSantis 13%
Christie 11%
Ramaswamy 8%
Haley 7%
Scott 7%
——
IOWA
Trump 42% (+25)
DeSantis 17%
Scott 10%
Ramaswamy 6%
Haley 5%
Christie 4%
——
SOUTH CAROLINA
Trump 43% (+22)
DeSantis 21%
Scott 11%
Haley 8%
Ramaswamy 4%@ManhattanInst | LVs | July pic.twitter.com/I4229qdyC8— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) August 3, 2023
Regarding the New Hampshire primary, Trump led with 34% against DeSantis’ 13%. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) held the third place spot with 11%.
Ramaswamy came next with 8% while both Haley and Scott each garnered 7% each.
In South Carolina, where both Scott and Haley hail from, Trump leads with 42% of the potential voters. DeSantis garnered 21% for second place.
Scott received 11% while Haley is supported by 8% of the respondents.
In addition, a recent Emerson poll showed Trump with a significant lead in Michigan over his Republican rivals.
In the poll conducted earlier this month, Trump had the support of a large majority of the prospective voters, with 61%. DeSantis came in second with 13%.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, with 7% was the only other candidate that registered more than 5% support.
In addition, the same poll found Trump tied with President Joe Biden in a repeat of the 2020 contest. In that election, Trump lost the state narrowly.
The same poll also showed that if Green Party candidate Professor Cornel West was included in the polling, Trump would have a narrow lead. In that scenario, the former president would receive 43% support, Biden would receive 41% and West would receive 4%.
