Donald Trump is losing big time in a new poll from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab. The poll queried registered Florida Republicans about who they preferred in the 2024 GOP presidential primary race.
The UNF poll listed 10 candidates, and 52 percent of the interviewees in that round selected Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who hasn’t announced a campaign for president but may do so ahead of 2024, if the widespread speculation is to be believed. Conversely, the former president, meaning Donald Trump, only drew 27 percent of the interviewees. The remaining eight possible candidates received low single-digit percentages. That list includes Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and a former official in the Trump administration itself, who sometimes seems suspiciously unwilling to even criticize Trump even though she announced a campaign.
A further poll question was about a “head-to-head race” between the Florida governor and the former POTUS. In that question, 59 percent of those who responded chose DeSantis over Trump’s 28 percent. The remaining Republicans either had not decided or refused to answer.
PORL faculty director Dr. Michael Binder, a professor of political science, said:
‘It’s not too surprising to see DeSantis take the lead among Republicans in his home state of Florida. But it is interesting to see how his lead jumps up from 25 to 31 points ahead, once you winnow the field from 10 to two. DeSantis is much better compared to Trump at consolidating votes if the field were to narrow.’
The latest UNF PORL poll used both phone and online interviews from February 25 through March 7. The result was 1,452 registered voters finished the poll, with 453 from phone interviews and 999 online interviews. (The overall survey covered topics besides the primary.) The margin of error was +/- 2.57 percentage points, which is closer than some.
Gloria Christie is a political journalist for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Find her here on Facebook. Or at Three White Lions, her book written in her own unique style with a twist of humor on Amazon Kindle Vella and the Gloria Christie Three White Lions podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery (in progress).
