In a new Florida poll of the potential 2024 Republican primary field, Ron DeSantis — the current governor of the state, who is running for re-election — is ahead of Donald Trump, both when the two are put before voters one-on-one and when respondents were presented with a longer list of contenders.
DeSantis also saw a portion of respondents indicating they “strongly approved” of him significantly higher than those who said so of Trump. In the multi-candidate field beyond just Trump and DeSantis, Ron received 44 percent of the support, while Trump had 42 percent. As those numbers suggest, no other candidate — whether Liz Cheney or Mike Pence — was close. DeSantis led by twenty percentage points among college-educated respondents in the larger pool of likely voters providing their input. When Trump and DeSantis were considered by voters without anybody else, the governor led by 11 percent, with 52 percent of the support to Trump’s 41 percent. DeSantis also led substantially among college-educated respondents in this portion of the poll, finishing 32 percent ahead of Donald.
Predictably, DeSantis was also ahead among respondents identifying themselves as more a supporter of the Republican Party than a supporter of former President Trump in his personal capacity. Trump hasn’t formally stated he is running for president again, although he’s made numerous indications that direction. As for DeSantis, he hasn’t formally stated his intentions to run either, although he has been widely touted as a potential contender. Polling from across the country, including on the national level, has repeatedly shown his strength as a candidate. In survey after survey, he’s second after Trump, suggesting that if Donald was for some reason not in the race, then DeSantis would be essentially the shoe-in for the nomination.
As for the rates at which Florida respondents indicated a favorable view of the potential candidates, a full 87 percent shared a “very favorable” perspective on DeSantis, while for Trump, only 60 percent indicated the same, with increasing portions in both the “somewhat favorable” and unfavorable categories. Trump seems cognizant of the possibility that the Florida governor, who has previously aligned himself with Donald, whose support helped propel Ron into power, could run against him in 2024. During a recent campaign speech, Trump mockingly referred to DeSantis as “Ron De-Sanctimonious” while discussing polling of the 2024 Republican primary. Trump later promoted DeSantis’s candidacy for re-election at a rally in Florida, where on-again, off-again Trump ally Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is also running for re-election. Rubio ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary and didn’t even win Florida.
In office, DeSantis has aligned himself with the far-right’s positions in what have been nicknamed culture war issues. He has implemented restrictions on discussing issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, abortion limits, new electoral rules denounced as suppressive, and more. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he resisted much of anything in terms of restrictions, and he was among the most prominent Republican officials alongside Trump himself to lash out against concern about the virus.
