Los Angeles Times

Poll: Trump takes big lead over DeSantis among California Republicans

Former President Donald Trump arrives onstage at the Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa, on March 13, 2023.

LOS ANGELES — Former President Donald Trump has vaulted back to a substantial lead in California over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, as the party's voters brush aside his legal travails, a new poll finds.

Trump has the support of 44% of California's likely Republican primary voters, while DeSantis was backed by 26%, according to the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by The Times. That's a notable reversal of their standings three months ago, when DeSantis led Trump by 8 percentage points among the state's GOP voters.

The former president's rise shows his ability to use the media to galvanize the voters most likely to back his third White House bid, said Mark DiCamillo, director of the IGS poll.

"Trump dominates the news, and

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