Democratic president Joe Biden would face a closely competitive 2024 US election contest with leading potential Republican challengers former president Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday found.
Following are details from the poll on possible head-to-head match-ups in the November 2024 presidential election.
Trump-Biden
Mr Trump, who has declared his candidacy, and Mr Biden, who has not formally done so, each received the largest shares of support from respondents in their parties, making a replay of their 2020 clash a plausible scenario.
Mr Trump had the support of 42 per cent of registered voters and Mr Biden had 39 per cent in a potential head-to-head contest. That is a statistical tie as it is within the poll's 4 percentage-point credibility interval, a measure of precision.
Biden-DeSantis
Mr DeSantis is widely expected to run for president but has not yet announced he will do so. Still, his rising national profile, boosted by stands on issues of race and gender, make him potentially tough competition for Mr Trump in the Republican primaries.
Mr DeSantis also looked competitive with Mr Biden in the poll, holding 41 per cent support to the president's 38 per cent, also a statistical tie.
Biden Haley
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley launched a presidential bid on Tuesday, making her the first high-profile Republican to challenge Mr Trump directly for the party's nomination. She trailed Mr Biden in a potential one-on-one match-up, with Mr Biden leading 43 per cent -31 per cent among registered voters.
Biden-Trump-Cheney
Former US Representative Liz Cheney is seen as a potential spoiler for Mr Trump in next year's contest.
Ms Cheney, one of Trump's most prominent Republican critics, vowed in August to try to keep Trump from returning to the White House and raised the possibility she could run for president following her loss to a Trump-backed opponent in a Republican primary.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, however, suggests Ms Cheney could siphon votes from Mr Biden should the three appear together on the ballot. In that scenario, 39 per cent of respondents picked Mr Trump, 32 per cent picked Mr Biden and 15 per cent picked Cheney, giving Mr Trump an advantage over Mr Biden relative to their two-person hypothetical match-up.
