According to a CNN survey, 40% of Republican respondents said they were most likely to support Trump, who launched his campaign for another White House term in November.
DeSantis has not officially said he will run, but is expected to soon. He got 36%.
Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, the first Republican to challenge the former president, trailed DeSantis by 30 points. Only 6% of those polled said they would probably support it.
Tied with Haley was former Vice President Mike Pence, who has not jumped into the ring.
22% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents prefer someone other than Trump or DeSantis for the Republican nomination.
These new results are in line with other recent polls that have put Trump ahead of DeSantis, who has hinted that he will make a decision on whether to run after his state’s legislative session ends (May).
Trump slammed DeSantis in his first campaign speech in Iowa by calling him RINO, or a Republican in name only.
Running March 8-12, the new CNN poll polled 1,045 Republicans or Republican-leaning independents.
Its margin of error is 3.8 percentage points.
