Support among Texas Republicans for Donald Trump in the GOP presidential primary has continued to increase, with the former president leading by more than 50% in a new poll.
Trump is favored by 61% of likely Republican primary voters, according to a statewide poll conducted by Defend Texas Liberty PAC over Labor Day weekend.
Behind the former president was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 10%, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley at 5%, former Vice President Mike Pence at 5%, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy at 3%, and the remaining candidates at 2% or less. Another 10% of respondents said they were undecided.
Trump’s support among Texas Republicans in the Defend Texas Liberty PAC poll increased by 13% since July, while DeSantis decreased by 3%. The survey included a potential head-to-head matchup of Trump and DeSantis, which had respondents at 62% for Trump, 24% for Ron DeSantis, and 14% undecided.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott lost 4% of his support in the poll since July, dropping from 5% to 1%. Haley gained 2% in support.
Trump did not participate in the GOP primary debates hosted by Fox News last month.
The poll was conducted from September 1 to September 4 via text messages and had 406 respondents. The margin of error is 4.9%.
Trump was arrested in Georgia and released last month on charges in relation to his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election.
When asked if they think Trump is guilty and should be convicted in Georgia, 79% of respondents said no, 10% said yes, and 11% were undecided.
Another question in the survey asked whether respondents believe humans are causing climate change — 65% said no, 22% said yes, and 13% were undecided.
On the question of COVID-19 restrictions, 83% of respondents said they oppose allowing local governments to authorize vaccine and mask mandates, 13% said they support it, and 4% were undecided.