DeSantis STILL has a mountain to climb to beat Trump: New poll shows Florida governor 34 points BEHIND former president as he begins Iowa campaign
- Florida Governor DeSantis sees no poll following the announcement
- A new Morning Consult poll conducted after DeSantis’ announcement shows ex-president with 56% support for DeSantis’ 22%
- DeSantis is in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina this week
Ron DeSantis failed to earn a bump in the polls after wading into the waters of the 2024 Republican presidential primary last week — and still trails Donald Trump by 38 percent.
A new poll from Morning Consult taken after DeSantis officially entered the race last Wednesday, it appears that Florida’s governor only increased his position by 1 percent after the announcement.
While he still ranks second among the 2024 Republican primary candidates, DeSantis has 22 percent compared to former President Trump’s 56 percent support. No other candidate received double-digit support from primary voters.
DeSantis started the year slightly ahead of Trump, but some pollsters say his reluctance to announce hurt him in the polls.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, while in second place, is still a whopping 34% behind former President Donald Trump in the primary. Pictured: DeSantis is in Iowa this week for his first official campaign swing
A new Morning Consult poll, taken after DeSantis’ announcement last week, shows the former president has 56% to DeSantis’ 22 percent support
Florida’s governor still ranks strongest among those who describe themselves as conservative and suburban — earning 25 percent support among both demographics, but still backing Trump.
In early 2023, DeSantis led Trump among white, college-educated Republican voters, but the ex-president now has a 17-point lead.
The Morning Consult poll, conducted May 26-28, 2023 of 3,485 potential GOP primary voters, found that longshot candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley took third place.
In fourth place is South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, followed by former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
All other potential candidates come in with a combined 10 percent.
Many are expected to enter the race in the coming weeks, including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Florida’s governor has lost ground in recent months and doesn’t seem to be getting the post-announcement bump usually expected
Despite coming second only to Trump, DeSantis continues to be widely viewed favorably by voters. Monmouth’s national poll this week shows that 73 percent have a good view of Florida’s governor.
Meanwhile, 77 percent of that same voting bloc have a positive view of Trump.
From the same poll conducted in previous months, Trump’s preference has risen from February, while DeSantis’ has fallen.
Following his announcement, DeSantis kicked off his first official campaign swing Tuesday through the first primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Florida Governor and his wife Casey DeSantis arrived at Port Neal Welding Co. Wednesday morning. in Sioux City, Iowa to promote DeSantis’ working-class background and his decision to join the Navy after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
It came after his first campaign event in Des Moines the night before.
Close behind DeSantis, Trump will also visit Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday and the two will compete for voters in the scarlet early caucus state.