Ahead of tonight's Iowa caucuses, poll shows Trump holds wide lead over GOP field

Supporters react as former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in Indianola, Iowa, on Sunday. Andrew Harnik/AP

Former President Donald Trump holds a wide lead over his Republican presidential competitors among likely GOP caucusgoers in Iowa, the final Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom  before Monday’s caucuses found.

Overall:

• 48% of likely caucusgoers say Trump would be their first choice;
• 20% name former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley;
• 16% name Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis;
• And the rest of the field is below 10%.

Trump stood at 51% in the December DMR/NBC poll and 43% in October, with his chief rivals in the teens in both of those prior polls.

Haley’s numerical move to second place is within the margin of error. Neither her support nor DeSantis’ has changed significantly since the December poll, when DeSantis stood at 19% to Haley’s 16% in a survey with a 4.4 point error margin.