WASHINGTON — A poll released today by American Principles Project (APP) shows a dead heat between former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a potential race for the GOP presidential nomination.

The survey of 1,000 Republican voters nationwide, conducted by OnMessage Inc., found that in a hypothetical field of 14 candidates, Trump leads with 34 percent with DeSantis just behind at 33.5 percent. When the field was narrowed to just the two front runners, DeSantis led Trump 53-38.

The poll also found significant GOP voter enthusiasm about pushing back against the left’s cultural extremism in various areas:

• 81 percent support a federal law prohibiting sex-change medical procedures on minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.
• 80 percent support a federal law banning public school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through 4th grade.
• 69 percent support a federal law prohibiting biological males from competing in girls’ sports at the K-12 and collegiate levels.
• 82 percent support a federal law requiring online pornography sites to verify the age of users to prevent minors from accessing content.

Respondents also preferred a candidate who prioritized fighting the left on these issues over a candidate who focused on more establishment-preferred issues (entitlement reform, immigration reform, and funding Ukraine’s defense) by a 16-point margin.

You can view the full poll results here.

APP President Terry Schilling released the following statement commenting on the poll results:

“GOP leaders and candidates should take from this poll one important lesson: voters expect them to fight wokeness. Support for policies protecting families from gender ideology is off the charts, with the majority of the base showing a strong preference for tackling these issues. Meanwhile, approval of Republican establishment priorities was much more muted, with most of those surveyed even agreeing that GOP elected officials have given up too much ground in the culture war.

“Any candidate who expects to win a Republican primary next year for any office needs to lead on cultural issues in order to win over voters. Perhaps the two most prominent leaders on these issues so far have been Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, so it should be no surprise they are far and away the favorites in the presidential field. It’s time for the rest of the party to pay heed and set their priorities accordingly.”

Earlier today, the Washington Examiner covered the poll’s release. You can read that article here.

To schedule a media engagement, contact Paul Dupont at (o) 202-503-2010 or pdupont@americanprinciplesproject.org.