Former President Donald Trump continues to hold a commanding lead in Iowa just two days before Monday’s GOP caucuses, according to a newly released NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll.
Trump leads his rivals by 28 points backed by support from evangelical Christians, first-time caucusgoers and registered Republicans. The former president has 48% support while former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is second with 20% and Florida governor Ron DeSantis is at 16%.
Trump also has the support of the most enthusiastic and committed likely caucusgoers, which is important as below freezing temperatures are expected on Monday night as the voting gets underway.
Despite Haley besting DeSantis for second place, within the margin of error, her supporters are extremely enthusiastic about her candidacy. That puts her at a lower enthusiasm scale than for Trump and DeSantis.
Trump’s strongest support comes from evangelical Christians (51%), registered Republicans (54%), first-time caucusgoers (56%) and likely caucusgoers who don’t have college degrees (59%).
DeSantis’ 16% is down 3 points from December. He performs well with evangelicals at 22%. 23% of DeSantis’ supporters say they’re extremely enthusiastic about the Florida governor but Haley has seen a 21-point drop in enthusiasm, which could her hurt come Monday night.
The majority of Iowa Republicans — 68% — say their mind is made up, that’s an increase from 49% in December. Meanwhile, over 80% of Trump’s supporters say their minds are made up and will be voting for the former president on Monday.
