Former President Donald Trump holds more than 60 percent support in Mississippi’s Republican primary race and maintains a dominating lead over the rest of the pack, according to a poll.
The Mississippi Today poll, conducted by Siena Research, shows that 61 percent of likely primary voters back Trump, placing him 39 points ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who draws 22 percent support. From there, no other candidate cracks double digits.
Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) sits in a distant third place with just six percent of backing, while three percent back former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC). Former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) each take two percent.
Notably, this poll was conducted from August 20-28, after Trump was indicted in Georgia, which marked the fourth indictment against him in the last five months.
While the poll did not ask respondents about the indictments from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s office or from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, it did ask for their perceptions of the two federal indictments pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
When asked if Trump should have been indicted in the classified documents case, where he allegedly took classified materials with him at the end of his presidency, 51 percent of the respondents said no. Conversely, 44 percent agree with the decision to indict.
Similarly, 51 percent of the respondents, including 54 percent of independents, do not think President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice should have indicted Trump on allegations he committed crimes while challenging the 2020 election, while 45 percent agree with the indictment.
What is more, 54 percent of the respondents think that Biden should face an impeachment inquiry “stemming from his involvement in alleged corrupt business dealings by his son, Hunter Biden,” while only 41 percent are against an impeachment inquiry.
The Mississippi primary falls on March 12, a week after the momentous Super Tuesday, where more than a dozen states will vote in their primaries or caucuses.
Siena Research sampled 650 likely voters between August 20-28, and the margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent. The Republican primary sample included the respondents who self-reported plans to vote in the GOP primary.
