Mary Lou Masters
Former President Donald Trump boasts a massive 55-point lead for the 2024 Republican nomination in California, a blue state that will host its primary on Super Tuesday, according to a Monday poll.
Trump received 66% of the share among likely GOP primary voters, followed by former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 11%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 8%, conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy at 3% and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who suspended his campaign last week, at 2%, a Berkeley ISG Poll/Los Angeles Times survey found. The former president’s support grew by 9 points since the poll was last conducted in October ahead of the state’s March 5 primary, where over a dozen nominating contests will take place.
“It’s now a different ballgame, and it certainly benefits Trump if he can follow through on these numbers,” Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, told the Los Angeles Times. “If Trump carries California, he’s a long way toward securing the nomination.”
Trump appears to be in a strong position to receive all of California’s 169 delegates, as the winner-take-all state requires candidates to exceed 50% support to do so, according to the pollster.
Along with California, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia will hold nominating contests on Super Tuesday, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The survey also found that while President Joe Biden maintains a double digit lead over Trump in the blue state, his margin is slimmer than it was in 2020. Biden is ahead by 19 points among likely California voters for a head-to-head matchup with the former president, but beat Trump by nearly 30 points last cycle.
Biden’s lead against Trump tightened to 16 points among a crowded field of third-party candidates, including independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., independent candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, according to the poll.
The RealClearPolitics (RCP) average for a 2024 national Republican and Democratic primary, based on the most recent polling, indicates both Trump and Biden hold massive leads over their respective fields. Trump is also polling ahead of Biden in national and crucial battleground state polls in the RCP average.
The first nominating contest of the 2024 primary season will take place on Monday where Iowans will caucus for their preferred candidate. Trump maintains a double digit lead over the narrowed field with 52.5% support, followed by Haley at 18.8%, DeSantis at 15.7%, Ramaswamy at 6.8% and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at 0.8%, according to the RCP average.
The Berkeley ISG Poll/Los Angeles Times conducted the survey between Jan. 4 and Jan. 8 of 1,351 likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%. Overall, the poll surveyed 4,470 likely voters in California during the same time frame with a margin of error of plus or minus 2%.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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