Staff Reports
In a hypothetical matchup between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, the Florida governor would beat the former president by a wide margin. This is according to several recent polls.
A Wall Street Journal poll conducted by John Anzalone and Tony Fabrizio revealed that DeSantis leads Trump 52% to 38%.
Among Republicans, the former president’s favorable rating is at 76%, while that of DeSantis is at 88%. This indicates that Trump, who officially launched his presidential campaign last month, is not doing well among the party’s voters.
A different survey conducted by Suffolk University for USA Today on Tuesday revealed that Trump trails behind DeSantis among Republican voters. Although the former reality TV star is the only declared candidate for the party’s presidential nomination in 2024, over 60% of respondents said they would prefer to see a different standard-bearer.
The Wall Street Journal and USA Today polls also indicated that the support of Republican voters for DeSantis is growing, as the party’s midterm losses were largely attributed to Trump’s insistence on waiting until the 2020 presidential election. Many Republicans believe that focusing on the 2020 race hurt the message about public safety and the economy. Trump is also being criticized for his endorsements of flawed candidates in primaries.
After winning the Florida governor’s race, DeSantis was reelected with ease. His coattails helped Republicans to secure victory in several races across the state.
Despite the various setbacks that have occurred during his time in office, Trump still holds on to a significant number of Republican voters. The margin of error that the Wall Street Journal’s survey showed for the Republican respondents was 6%. Anzalone and Fabrizio conducted the survey with 1,500 registered voters across the country.
