Trump leads GOP competition in Iowa — but by less than national polls
While former President Donald Trump is leading in Iowa among his Republican opponents in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination, it's not as commanding as his lead nationwide, a new poll found.
Forty-four percent of Republican voters in the battleground state would vote for Trump, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released Friday. By comparison, Trump commands a 54 percent lead among GOP voters nationwide.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis saw 20 percent support among the Iowa GOP voters — 3 percentage points higher than his national polling numbers. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott saw the biggest difference, with 9 percent in Iowa compared to 6 percent polling among Republicans nationwide.
The new numbers come as Trump’s team attempts to beef up his campaign efforts in Iowa ahead of the caucus, which he lost by 6,000 votes in 2016.
But there have already been troubling signs for him, with an Iowa state senator who had previously endorsed the former president flipping his support to DeSantis last month. And Trump raised eyebrows after he seemingly attacked Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who’s widely popular among Republicans in her state, for not endorsing his presidential bid.
Meanwhile, the Florida governor has also ramped up his campaigning in the state in recent months.
Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy polled at 5 percent in Iowa and at 2 percent nationwide among GOP voters. Former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence both polled at 3 percent nationwide among Republicans, but Haley saw a boost to 5 percent in Iowa while Pence’s remained the same.
An earlier national New York Times/Siena College poll also found that Trump and President Joe Biden are tied in a hypothetical rematch, at 43 percent support each, for their return to the White House in 2024.
The survey, consisting of 432 likely Iowa voters, was conducted between July 28 and Tuesday — before the federal indictment of former president for allegedly conspiring to seize a second term after losing the 2020 election was handed down. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday.
The poll was taken over landlines and cell phone calls, and has a margin of sampling error that’s plus or minus 5.9 percentage points.