The race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is just beginning to heat up, but women voters in the GOP are already largely leaning toward one candidate in particular: former President Trump.

According to a recent Fox News poll, 40% of Republican women voters would choose to support Trump, giving him a nearly double-digit lead over his nearest potential rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In the poll, DeSantis garnered 23% support, and former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley came in a distant third with 9% support. Former Vice President Mike Pence came in fourth at 8%, while no other potential candidate received more than 2%.

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GOP hopefuls

From left to right, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence. (Getty Images)

When Republican women were asked who their second choice would be, DeSantis easily came out on top with 25% support while Trump and Pence were tied at 13%. Haley garnered just 9%.

Haley, Trump, and multi-millionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are the only candidates to have officially jumped into the race. However, Pence and DeSantis, as well as a number of others, are rumored to be mulling their own runs and have taken trips to the early primary states.

Respondents to the Fox News poll were not asked about Ramaswamy, who officially launched his campaign on February 21 after polling had already begun.

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Former President Donald Trump

Former President Trump speaks during a campaign event at the South Carolina State House in Columbia, S.C., Jan. 28, 2023. (Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

When the poll asked Republican women who they would support out of the only two declared candidates, Trump received an overwhelming 63% to Haley's 27%. Just 1% of respondents said they wouldn't vote, while 7% said they would support someone else, and 3% said they didn't know.

Republican women were overwhelmingly in agreement when it came to what they thought of President Biden with 91% giving him a thumbs down on his job performance and just 8% approving.

Nikki Haley presidential campaign

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announces her run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event in Charleston, S.C., Feb. 15, 2023. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

A plurality of Republican women (46%) said they saw the economy as the top issue facing the country, and a distant 23% said immigration.

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The contests for the Republican nomination are still nearly a year away with the Iowa caucuses expected to be held in the first week of February 2024.