DeSantis, Pence top 2024 Republican primary surveys – if Trump doesn’t run

To state the obvious: Former President Trump remains the dominant force in the GOP and the most popular figure among Republican voters.

As Trump flirts with a 2024 presidential run to regain the White House, the early data clearly shows that if the nomination race were held today, the former president would be the overwhelming favorite.

Without Trump in the race, a new survey conducted by a GOP pollster who worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign and the then-president’s 2020 reelection campaign, points to former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the early favorites in what may end up being a large field of GOP White House hopefuls.

But with no formal 2024 announcement from Trump expected anytime soon, the former president will continue to dominate all 2024 discussions going forward.

"I think the elephant in the room is obviously Donald Trump," veteran GOP pollster Neil Newhouse told Fox News. "If the election were held today and if he wants the nomination, he’d be the odds on favorite."

Last weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference – the biggest and oldest annual gathering of conservative activists and leaders which is better known by its acronym CPAC – Trump returned to the spotlight for the first time since he left the White House on Jan. 20.

He predicted that in 2024 "a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House." And teasing a potential run, he asked "I wonder who that will be?"

Later in his speech, Trump once again falsely claimed he won last November’s presidential election and triggered an explosion of applause and cheers when he said of the Democrats, "who knows … I may even decide to beat them for a third time."

Following his speech, Trump touted his showing in the CPAC secret ballot straw poll. Asked during an interview on Fox News’ "The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton" on Sunday night on the chances he’ll run again for the White House in 2024, the former president said, "If you look at the kind of numbers, the support is tremendous. But we'll have to see."

Ninety-seven percent of those voting in the straw poll said they approved of the job Trump had done as president, and 95% said they wanted the Republican Party to continue to advance Trump’s agenda. That’s no surprise, given that CPAC has turned into a Trump lovefest over the past five years. But only 68% said they wanted the former president to run again in 2024, and his support dropped to 55% in the 2024 horserace question.

A national survey conducted the past two weeks among Republican voters by veteran GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio indicated that slightly more than half would support Trump if the 2024 primary were held today.

"To get a majority of the vote in the face of 14 or 15 other candidates – that’s huge. In my survey there wasn’t a single other person who broke into double digits. … After everything that’s occurred, it’s a hugely strong position for the former president to be in," Fabrizio told Fox News.

But Newhouse highlighted, "The CPAC data, Tony’s data, and what we’re seeing on the ground, just reinforces that Trump’s grip... (Read more)

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