The race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is just starting to heat up, but female voters in the GOP are already largely leaning toward one candidate in particular: former President Trump.
According to a recent Fox News poll, 40% of Republican female voters would choose to support Trump, giving him a nearly double-digit lead over his closest potential rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
In the poll, DeSantis received 23% support, and former UN Ambassador and Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley came in a distant third with 9% support. Former Vice President Mike Pence came in fourth with 8%, while no other potential candidate got more than 2%.
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From left to right: former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former President Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former Vice President Mike Pence. (Getty Images)
When Republican women were asked who their second pick would be, DeSantis easily came out on top with 25% support, while Trump and Pence were tied at 13%. Haley got only 9%.
Haley and Trump are the only candidates to have officially jumped into the race. However, rumor has it that Pence and DeSantis, as well as a number of others, are considering their own runs and have made forays into the early primary states.
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Former President Trump speaks at a campaign event at the South Carolina State House in Columbia, SC, January 28, 2023. (Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
When the poll asked Republican women who they would support out of the only two declared candidates, Trump got an overwhelming 63% to Haley’s 27%. Only 1% of respondents said they wouldn’t vote, while 7% said they would support someone else and 3% said they didn’t know.
Republican women overwhelmingly agreed on what they thought of President Biden: 91% gave him a thumbs down on his job performance and only 8% approved.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announces her candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event in Charleston, SC, February 15, 2023. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
A large number of Republican women (46%) said they see the economy as the country’s main issue, and a distant 23% said immigration.
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The contests for the Republican nomination are still almost a year away, and the Iowa primary is expected to be held in the first week of February 2024.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.