A national poll showed former President Donald Trump once again dominating the Republican presidential primary field and showed the continuing rise of Vivek Ramaswamy, who is virtually tied in second place with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
Nearly half of the Republican primary voters polled, 48%, are backing Trump, the current GOP front-runner, in his third bid for the White House, while Ramaswamy received 11% support and DeSantis garnered 10% of GOP support, according to a Kaplan Strategies survey.
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Former Vice President Mike Pence followed with 8% support compared to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who are both tied at 4%. The poll also showed that 13% of those surveyed were undecided on which candidate to support.
“Since our prior poll a few weeks ago, we’ve observed President Trump’s unwavering stronghold. Vivek Ramaswamy’s ascent to second place and Governor DeSantis’s pursuit, closely followed by Vice President Pence’s advances, have shaped the dynamics. The forthcoming debate is anticipated to illuminate the primary contender landscape, providing greater clarity," pollster Doug Kaplan said.
The poll surveyed 800 likely GOP primary voters from Aug. 9-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Ramaswamy's second-place position comes as he's seen a steady increase in his poll numbers. A FiveThirtyEight poll average tracker showed Ramaswamy receiving a paltry 1.3% in March. But as he's vocally expressed his support for Trump during his multiple indictments, Ramaswamy's poll numbers have increased. The FiveThirtyEight average composite showed Ramswamy at 7.3% as of Aug. 11, in third place behind Trump at 52.7% and DeSantis at 14%.
A RealClearPolitics poll average has Ramaswamy again in third place at 6.1% behind Trump at 54.2% and DeSantis at 15.1%. In March, Ramaswamy was averaging at just 0.5% support among GOP primary voters. Now, Ramaswamy, a political novice, is beating out far more established candidates such as Pence, Christie, and Haley.
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On the campaign trail, Ramaswamy has faced questions about whether he would consider becoming Trump's running mate, which he has pushed back against.
Last week, he told NewsNation that he's not interested in becoming Trump's No. 2. "I don’t do well in a No. 2, so I’d be about as likely to accept it as he would be to accept my offer to be my vice president," Ramaswamy told NewsNation’s Dan Abrams. "It’s a no."