Donald Trump now leads Ron DeSantis, 59 percent to 16 percent, in the Republican nomination contest, according to the latest Morning Consult tracking poll.
Ron DeSantis Still in Serious Trouble
The latest edition of Morning Consult’s Tracking Poll of the Republican race is out, and it once again shows Donald Trump with a commanding lead, and Gov. Ron DeSantis losing support.
According to the poll, released Tuesday, Trump has 59 percent support among Republican voters, a 43-point lead over second-place DeSantis, who has just 16 percent support, the lowest level he has shown in the poll since December. Vivek Ramaswamy is in third place with 8 percent, followed by Mike Pence with 6 percent, and former Ambassador Nikki Haley with 4 percent.
Sen. Tim Scott is down to 2 percent, which has him even with Gov. Chris Christie, while Gov. Doug Burgum has just 1 percent support. Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Mayor Francis Suarez and former Rep. Will Hurd are all polling at zero percent.
“Most potential GOP primary voters (59%) support Trump, giving him a 43-percentage point lead over DeSantis as the Florida governor’s campaign undergoes a reset,” Morning Consult said in its release. “This marks one of Trump’s largest advantages over his closest polling rival — and one of DeSantis’ lowest levels of support — since Morning Consult began tracking the primary race in early December.”
The poll also concluded that, in head-to-head matchups, Biden leads Trump by 2 percent, but leads DeSantis by 5 percent.
In addition, the poll noted that Ramaswamy appears to be gaining traction, having passed Pence for third place earlier this month and stayed there.
“Potential GOP primary voters are 32 points more likely to have recently heard something positive than negative about entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, marking the highest level of buzz in the field. In addition to polling in third place, Ramaswamy has also become the third most popular candidate, with 51% favorability among the GOP’s expected electorate,” the polling outfit said.
DeSantis remains the top second choice for Trump backers, with 36 percent, while Ramaswamy pulls 18 percent of support.
DeSantis’ continuing struggles come as he is in the midst of a seemingly weeks-long campaign reset. On Tuesday, per Politico, he let go of more than one third of his campaign staff.
“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden,” DeSantis campaign manager Generra Peck said in a statement to Politico. “Gov. DeSantis is going to lead the Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign.”
Also this week, DeSantis was in a car accident in Tennessee, but escaped unhurt.
Another poll, from Monmouth University and also released Tuesday, stated that DeSantis’ message “falls flat.”
“A majority of Republican voters say former President Donald Trump would be their strongest nominee in the 2024 election and few feel the criminal indictments he faces are of any concern,” the Monmouth Poll authors said in their release. “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to paint himself as both a stronger candidate and a more effective leader than Trump have largely failed to connect with the GOP electorate.”
That poll had Trump leading with 55 percent support, compared to 22 percent for DeSantis, 5 percent for Ramaswamy, and 3 percent each for Scott, Christie, Haley and Pence.
“DeSantis has not made any headway. The arguments that he’d be a stronger candidate and a more effective president than Trump have both fallen flat,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in the release. “Trump has successfully pushed a politics of grievance where the system is out to get you. In that light, the criminal charges seem to make him an even stronger advocate in the eyes of many Republicans.”
Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Image Credit: Government of Florida.
Author Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
From 19FortyFive
The Second American Civil War Has Begun
