Republican voters give DeSantis a 14-point lead over Trump – a year before primaries begin

Another poll Wednesday showed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis cementing his position as the favorite in the hypothetical race for the 2024 Republican nomination.

DeSantis has yet to declare that he will run, but he has a 14-point lead over former President Donald Trump, who announced his candidacy last month, according to a Wall Street Journal poll.

It comes after the two leading names had contrasting fortunes in the midterm elections.

DeSantis was returned to the governor’s mansion in a landslide victory, while many in his party blamed Trump for disappointing results elsewhere.

“It’s going to be a competitive primary,” said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who works for a pro-Trump super PAC and conducted the poll with Democratic pollster John Anzalone for the Journal.

“The two favorites right now would be Trump and DeSantis.”

Former President Donald Trump trails Ron DeSantis among likely voters in the Republican primary, even though the Florida governor has yet to announce a 2024 nomination.

Among likely primary voters, the poll found that 54 percent favored DeSantis, compared with 38 percent who backed Trump.

That lead grows to 30 points among more moderate Republicans, though they tend to be a more marginal force in the primary process.

However, the 76-year-old former president outperforms DeSantis among those with an education below high school, but the 44-year-old governor fares better among those with a college education and among suburban and urban voters.

There is more bad news for Trump.

The poll of 1,500 registered voters found that DeSantis is viewed favorably by 43 percent compared to 36 percent for Trump, his lowest number in the past year.

Since March, his favoritism among Republican voters has dropped from 85 percent to 74 percent.

And another poll released Wednesday showed voters have no stomach for a 2020 rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden.

About 62 percent of the Republicans surveyed said they would prefer anyone other than Trump as their nominee, according to the CNN poll.

And nearly as many Democrats said they’d rather not have Biden on their ticket come 2024.

It comes as a host of high-profile donors have questioned Trump’s ability to achieve party victory.

The former president has borne much of the blame for disappointing midterm results, and critics have questioned his selection of candidates — apparently favoring loyalty to him over electability — and his promotion strategy during the campaign. .

That has sparked a flurry of calls for DeSantis to run, representing both the next generation of Republican leaders and a figure who has found a way to win over new voters.

After narrowly winning the governorship in 2018, he scored a double-digit victory in November.

He has ruled out talk of 2024 until now, though the victory speech offered hints of a run.

“We have rewritten the political map,” he said. “While our country is reeling from failed leadership in Washington, Florida is on the right track.”

He met with major donors in Miami last weekend, though no announcement is expected until after the Florida legislative session ends in May.

Other figures who have been laying the foundation for a career include former Vice President Mike Pence.

A hypothetical matchup between the former president and the vice president shows that Trump is ahead of likely voters in the Republican primary with 63 percent to 28 percent.