Former US President Donald Trump
Former US President Donald Trump has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns. Photo by: AFP/Brendan Smialowski

A national survey on the presidential nomination races has revealed that former President Donald Trump looks formidable.

The Fox News Poll was conducted between Feb. 19-22 under the joint direction of Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research. It included interviews with 1,006 registered voters across the U.S. who were randomly chosen from a voter file.

Republican primary voters were read a list of 15 announced as well as potential candidates for the 2024 presidential election nomination.

Trump topped the list (43%), followed by Ron DeSantis (28%). Nikki Haley and Mike Pence were in the third position, with 7% each. They were followed by Greg Abbott and Liz Cheney (2% each).

Others received 1% or less, and at this early stage, only 3% were unsure of their pick, reported Fox News.

Trump was put first and DeSantis second by men, women, those under and over age 45, and those without a college degree.

The Florida governor is ahead among those who have a college degree and those who think President Joe Biden was legitimately elected.

Daron Shaw, a Republican, who conducts the Fox News survey with Democrat Chris Anderson, said that DeSantis needs Trump to falter because "most of the former president's supporters see the Florida governor as the second-best choice."

He shared that at the same time, other candidates need "DeSantis to falter because his supporters have no single fallback option and would be up for grabs should he flame out."

In a matchup between the two announced GOP candidates, Trump topped Haley by 66-24%.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy wasn't part of it as he announced his candidacy mid-survey. The 37-year-old former biotech executive, who is the founder of the Ohio-based Strive Asset Management firm, announced his run for the 2024 Republican nomination for president last Tuesday, as per Forbes.

A majority of 53% of Democratic primary voters said that they would like someone other than Biden to run for the White House. But 37% of the voters wanted to keep him as their party's nominee.

Still, 84% of Democratic primary voters approve of the job that he is doing as America's President.

For politicians aged over 75, 77%, favored requiring mental competency tests -- something that would apply to both Biden (80) and Trump (76).

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