In a surprise move, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is surging ahead of Donald Trump, according to a new poll put out by Neighborhood Research and Media earlier this week. The Washington Examiner surveyed 393 caucus-goers and showed that the Florida governor led the ex-president 32 to 30 when Iowa Republicans were surveyed. Trump has dropped 23 points since June and a full 47 points in the past year.
The individuals in Iowa who were undecided held 30 percent of the vote. But the Florida governor is on target to take the majority of those votes, too. Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence fell far behind with only three percent of the vote, but he was the only potential candidate with over one percent of the vote.
The way the survey shook out, the 45th president dropped between seven and nine points among the “very conservative, somewhat conservative, and moderates.” Conversely, Governor DeSantis jumped by double digits in each of those groups.
Consequently, Neighborhood Research and Media pollster Rick Shaftan deduced that at this point in time, the ex-president would come in as a “severe underdog” if extrapolated out to 2024. The latest poll reflected how badly the midterm elections have been for Trump.
One possibility for the previous president’s meteoric drop was that Trump’s candidates bottomed out in their midterm elections. However, this was not an anomaly. The national YouGov Poll also had DeSantis ahead of the 45th president by seven percentage points, The POLITICO wrote. Even key state polls showed the Florida governor pulling ahead of the previous president by consequential margins.
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) pointed at DeSantis’ re-election last week:
‘The question is: who is the current leader of the Republican Party? Oh, I know who it is: Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis is the leader of the Republican Party, whether he wants to be or not.’
One House Republican said:
‘In a contested race in a Republican primary, there are other people that I would support. I can make a strong case where he cost us the House in ‘18, cost us the Senate in ‘22. And cost us the White House in ‘20. And yet he wants us to rehire him because he likes the attention.’
Representative Ralph Norman (R-SC) said:
‘I don’t understand why he’s going after DeSantis. He’s basically carrying out Trump’s policies. Look what he’s done in Florida. That’s the only state where we had a red day. They’re in lockstep policies.“He’s basically carrying out Trump’s policies. Look what he’s done in Florida. That’s the only state where we had a red day. They’re in lockstep policies.’
However, in a game where a week is a month, two years are a lifetime.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
Christie writes Gloria Christie Reports & Three White Lions Substack newsletters and a Three White Lions podcast available on Apple, Spotify, etc. She is a political journalist for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery (in progress). Find her here on Facebook. Or at Three White Lions her book on Amazon Kindle Vella and the Gloria Christie Three White Lions podcast on Apple, Spotify, etc.
