by Will Kessler
Former President Donald Trump still maintains a strong lead in Iowa ahead of the GOP presidential caucus on Monday with strong enthusiasm from supporters, unlike former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, whose backers lack the same enthusiasm, according to a new poll released by The Des Moines Register/NBC News/MediaCom.
Out of all voters who expect to caucus for Trump, around 42 percent said that they were “extremely enthusiastic,” while 39 percent said that they were “very enthusiastic,” compared to Haley, who came in at 9 percent and 30 percent in those same metrics, respectively, according to a poll conducted by Selzer & Co. Overall, those surveyed heavily favored the former president, with 48 percent of voters saying they would support Trump, followed by Haley at 20 percent and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 16 percent.
“[Haley’s] enthusiasm numbers, again, I just think are on the edge of jaw-dropping,” J. Ann Selzer of Slezer & Co. told The Des Moines Register. “That 61 percent are just mildly enthusiastic or not that enthusiastic — it just seems at odds with a candidate moving up.”
Nearly half of those who said that they would support Haley in the caucus were only “mildly enthusiastic,” according to the poll. DeSantis had a similar lack of enthusiasm, with only 23 percent of supporters being “extremely enthusiastic.”
Despite the Iowa caucus offering voters the chance to persuade other voters, around 68 percent of those surveyed said their minds were already made up, while only 25 percent said that they could still be persuaded, according to the poll. Around 7 percent of voters were undecided on their first choice.
Expected Trump voters were more likely to already have made up their minds, with 82 percent saying their support for the former president was locked in, according to the poll. Out of Haley and DeSantis supporters, 63 percent and 64 percent said they had made up their minds, respectively.
Of Iowa Republican caucusgoers, Trump is viewed favorably by 69 percent of them, followed by DeSantis at 58 percent, Vivek Ramaswamy at 52 percent and Haley at 48 percent, according to the poll. Despite expected harsh weather on the day of the event, 62 percent of DeSantis supporters said that they would “definitely” attend, while 56 percent and 51 percent of Trump and Haley supporters said the same, respectively.
Of Haley supporters, 39 percent identify as independents, while 11 percent identify as Democrats, meaning half of her measured support is not Republicans since the caucus is open to all Iowans, irrespective of party, according to the poll. Trump still leads overall with independents, with 37 percent of those surveyed planning to caucus for the former president, followed by Haley at 33 percent and DeSantis at 14 percent.
The poll surveyed 705 likely Republican caucusgoers from Jan. 7-12 and had a margin of error of ±3.7.
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Will Kessler is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Image “Donald Trump” by Dan Scavino.
