Four different national polls have been released in the last 24 hours, and they all tell the same story about the early race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Former President Donald Trump holds a commanding — and growing — lead over the GOP field, including his nearest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Marquette Law poll has the former president leading the newly minted candidate by 21 points — up from Trump’s 5-point lead back in March.
CNN’s poll has Trump ahead by 27 points. (It was a 4-point advantage in March.)
Quinnipiac University’s poll has Trump up by 31 points. (It was 14 points two months ago.)
And Fox News’ poll finds Trump ahead of DeSantis by 33 points. (Trump’s lead over DeSantis was just 5 points in February’s Fox News poll.)
The good news for DeSantis is that he’s still well-liked by Republicans. CNN’s poll has a combined 85% of Republicans saying they either support him for president (26%) or would consider supporting him (59%), suggesting potential upside for the Florida governor.
That’s almost identical to the combined 84% in the poll who say they either support Trump (53%) or would consider supporting him (31%).
The bad news for DeSantis is that, against Trump, he overperforms with GOP voters who are moderates and who have college degrees — not exactly the voters who represent the vanguard of today’s Republican Party.
According to Quinnipiac’s poll, Trump leads DeSantis by just 1 point among white Republicans with college degrees, 38%-37%, and by 18 points among GOP moderates, 47%-29%.
But among whites without college degrees, Trump is ahead of DeSantis by 33 points, 58%-25%. And among “very conservative” Republicans, Trump leads DeSantis by a whopping 45 points, 67%-22%.
