Donald Trump holds wide lead in 2024 Republican presidential contest, Vivek Ramaswamy receives 5% support: Report

Former US President Donald Trump has received a wide range of support in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest as per a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

More than half of the party's voters have backed Trump's Presidential nomination from the Republican party. The poll found that 61% of self-identified Republicans said they would vote for Donald Trump in the state-by-state nominating contest to pick a challenger to incumbent US President Joe Biden.

Despite myriad legal problems - he faces multiple criminal charges over his role in the deadly January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, hush money payments to a porn star, and stolen classified documents - Trump is currently the runaway frontrunner to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

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None of the rivals of Trump were anywhere close to him in the poll. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were each backed by 11% of self-identified Republicans.

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Haley's position has improved since September when a Reuters/Ipsos poll found her tied for fourth place at 4%.

But she and the other candidates have only fallen farther behind Trump, who had the backing of 51% of Republicans in that poll.

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Only 5% backed entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy while former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie got 2% and 8% said they were undecided.

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The first ballots of the 2024 US elections will be cast in Iowa's Republican caucus on January 15. Iowa uses a different system to pick presidential candidates than most other states where a traditional ballot is employed. Voters in Iowa - or caucus goers - will gather for several hours in thousands of locations on January 15 to debate the candidates before ranking them. Polling Iowans' first-choice preference is the best indicator of candidates' support.

Trump's lead in Iowa is fueled by majorities of evangelical and first-time likely caucus goers. He is also enjoying commanding leads over his Republican rivals in national polls and in New Hampshire, the second state to vote in the Republican nominating contest on 23 January.

The online poll of 1,689 self-identified Republicans was conducted between December 5 and December 11.