New Poll Gives Kamal Harris A Narrow Victory Over Ron DeSantis In 2024? – Following successive polls showing former President Donald Trump easily defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in a theoretical 2024 presidential race, a surprising new poll shows the vice president beating popular Republican Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.
The Harvard University Center for American Political Studies (CAPS) found that Kamala Harris, despite her historically low approval ratings, would take 39% of the vote in a 2024 race against Governor DeSantis, who would take 37%. It’s a marginal victory, but still, one that would likely surprise even Democrat-leaning observers.
Importantly, however, Harvard found that 23% of respondents were undecided between the two candidates.
Biden Looks To Be Running
While President Joe Biden once described himself as a “transitional” president, sparking rumors that he may step aside and allow Vice President Harris to run in 2024, it looks as though the president is planning on running for a second term after all.
Biden will be 81 years old in 2024, which would make him the oldest candidate of either of the two main parties in American history. That doesn’t seem to deter him, however, as a report from the New York Times described in June how the president is seeking loyalty from his party as he lays the groundwork for another campaign.
With that in mind, Harris is unlikely to go head-to-head with DeSantis in 2024. The Florida governor has also not announced his interest in running for the White House in 2024.
DeSantis Is Still Less Known Than Kamala Harris
Should the stars align and Harris goes head-to-head with DeSantis in 2024, the poll doesn’t necessarily reflect what will happen in the election, as clearly we are years away, a true lifetime in U.S. politics.
Vice President Kamala Harris is already a household name, while Governor DeSantis is not. For many Americans, their only knowledge of Governor DeSantis comes from negative stories and smears from those on the left. Notably, Americans likely know DeSantis from the entirely made-up “Don’t Say Gay” bill scandal, in which Democrats falsely claimed that the Florida governor was advancing legislation that banned residents from using the term “gay” or teachers referencing sexuality in teaching.
In truth, the legislation was designed to stop educators from teaching sexual concepts to children.
Not yet a household name but already contending with negative press, it’s no wonder DeSantis scores badly against Harris. The result is radically different from recent polls of GOP voters, who now consider DeSantis as viable a 2024 candidate as former President Donald Trump.
What will happen in 2024 is anybody’s guess, but if Harris is the Democrats’ candidate, GOP voters may want former President Donald Trump to stick around – at least if polls showing him handily beating Harris are accurate.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
