Former President Donald Trump is beating his closest competitor by 20 points in the race for the Iowa caucuses, according to a new poll that shows him maintaining a solid advantage in an early-voting state where he’s struggled in the past.
Mr. Trump enjoys 42% support among Iowa Republicans caucusgoers compared to 19% for his closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, found the poll conducted by Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer for NBC News, the Des Moines Register and Mediacom.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina placed third in the poll with 9%
The Iowa GOP caucus, the traditional kickoff of the nominating contest, is slated for Jan. 15.
Iowa was one of Mr. Trump’s toughest states when he was competing for the GOP nomination in 2016.
Mr. Trump has cited his commanding lead over his 12 rivals for the nomination as reason for skipping Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate. Eight candidates other than Mr. Trump have qualified for the debate in Milwaukee.
The new Iowa poll began surveying voters a day after nearly all of the GOP candidate hopefuls stopped by the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 12. Mr. Trump also was in attendance following his most recent indictment on criminal charges, this time in Fulton County, Georgia, for efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss.
Among Mr. Trump‘s supporters, the poll found that 66% said their mind was made up to vote for him. Among all likely Republican caucusgoers, 52% said that they could be persuaded to change their minds.
Roughly 31% of Mr. DeSantis’ supporters said their minds were made up to support him, the other 69% said they could be persuaded towards another candidate.
Mr. Trump’s favorability rating was 65% favorable, 33% unfavorable, an improvement from 54% favorable and 45% unfavorable in 2016. But, the potential candidate who had the highest favorability rating at 81% favorable,18% unfavorable was Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa.
Her state found her the most favorable out of the other 13.
When asked what was most important in picking a presidential candidate, 65% said choosing someone who has the most similar views on issues as them. Twenty-nine percent said they would choose a candidate who had the best chance at defeating President Biden in November 2024.
The poll was conducted from Aug. 13-17.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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