Forty-five percent of Republican and Republican-leaning Independent voters questioned in an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist national poll released Thursday said they'd support Trump for the GOP nomination in a multi-candidate field, while 33% favored DeSantis, 8% backed former Vice President Mike Pence and 11% supported other potential candidates.
The findings add context to a Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday that indicated DeSantis polling ahead of Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup for the 2024 GOP nomination. That national survey also showed that Republican primary voters could hold a slightly more favorable opinion of DeSantis than Trump.