Poll: Trump Leads DeSantis, Ramaswamy by 48 Points After Mugshot

Former President Donald Trump has surged four points since August and leads the rest of the primary field by 48 points, according to a Thursday Echelon Insights poll conducted for the Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP) and Women2Women. 

The poll shows that 59 percent of likely Republican primary voters back Trump, up from 55 percent on August 17. Notably, that poll was conducted before Trump was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, on August 24, when his iconic mugshot was taken and went viral.

Trump enjoys the most positive movement, as his nearest competitors — Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy — tie at 11 percent and are trending downward compared to August.

Ramaswamy has dropped four points since August, while DeSantis has dropped one point.

“Even with a clear second tier occupied by DeSantis and Ramaswamy, the only other candidates in double digits, this is a divided field that only advantages the man with the highest name ID in the world,” RMSP President and CEO Sarah Chamberlain stated in the release. 

From there, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) tie at six percent apiece, marking gains since the last poll, while Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and former Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) each take one percent. No other candidate eclipses a percent of support. 

“In order for hopefuls to narrow this gap to Trump, they need to make serious headway among voters, promoting clear agendas that will actually address the problems like cost of living and mental health that voters really care about,” Chamberlain contended. 

As Chamberlain pointed out, 69 percent of the poll’s respondents said “adult mental health” is “a major problem” or “crisis” facing the nation. When asked to pick the top issue facing the country today, a plurality — 27 percent of voters — pointed to the cost of living. 

The poll sampled 1,026 liked Republican primary voters nationally between August 31 and September 4. The margin of error is ± eight percentage options.