Former President Donald Trump is leading the field of candidates in the 2024 GOP presidential primary among Georgia voters, according to a new poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The poll surveyed 807 likely Republican primary voters in Georgia from August 16-23.
The poll, which came out Tuesday, found that 57 percent of likely GOP primary voters in the Peach State would vote for Trump, giving him a 42-point lead against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who came in second place with 15 percent of the vote.
A year ago, Georgia – my home state, was the one of the only states I was concerned about. My friend @mattgaetz kept reassuring me, “wait until Ron is tested and on stage.”
Now DeSantis support has dried up harder than Joe Biden’s cold blooded America last heart.
Georgia is… pic.twitter.com/5rRakZuFiu
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) August 29, 2023
Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence took third place in the new poll with 4 percent, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, and Nikki Haley, all with 3 percent.
The poll also found that 14 percent of surveyed voters remain undecided.
Trump’s lead over his closest competitor, DeSantis, is notable, considering that the same poll conducted in April showed the former president polling with 50 percent and the Florida governor with 30 percent – just a 20-point difference.
The poll was conducted after Trump and 18 of his allies were indicted in Fulton County for their alleged roles in attempting to “overturn” the results of the 2020 election in the Peach State.
Trump turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail last week.
While walking out of the jail last week, Trump told reporters, “I really believe this is a very sad day for America, and it should never happen. If you challenge an election, you should be able to challenge an election. I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election, and I should have every right to do that…What has taken place here is a travesty of justice.”
“It’s election interference…We did nothing wrong at all. And we have every right, every single right to challenge an election that we think is dishonest, that we think it’s very dishonest,” Trump added.
The former president and others are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges out of Fulton County at 9:30 a.m. on September 6, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee announced this week.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network.