A new poll shows more very bad news for Gov. Ron DeSantis, in his flailing presidential campaign.
According to a new poll from Cygnal, Ron DeSantis has fallen behind Vivek Ramaswamy, into third place among Republicans. Former President Donald Trump is in first place with 53 percent, followed by Ramaswamy with 11 percent, DeSantis with 10 percent, and former Vice President Mike Pence with 7 percent.
No other candidate is listed as higher than the 3 percent posted by Tim Scott and Nikki Haley.
Ron DeSantis Might Not Panic Just Yet The Polls Can Differ
There are a few caveats, however: This is only one poll, it appears to be an outlier compared to most other polls, it’s from a relatively obscure polling outfit, and, per a disclaimer at the bottom, “Cygnal pollster Brock McCleary is the pollster for Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.”
“There are quite a few new and conventional-thought-breaking things to report out of this new national poll,” Pollster and Director of Client Strategy, Chris Lane said in the poll release. “Beyond the usual horse race numbers, the top takeaway is by far the fact that 26% of Democrats support an impeachment probe into President Biden’s alleged influence peddling. In an era when everyone complains about extreme media bias and political gamesmanship, this number proves the President has a real problem, and they’re compounding.”
Despite that, the Cygna poll also finds that President Biden leads Donald Trump 46 percent to 43 percent in a potential general election matchup.
Meanwhile, the latest Morning Consult poll, released August 8, also has DeSantis far behind Trump, although it also places the Florida governor comfortably ahead of Ramaswamy.
Per that tracking poll, Trump has 59 percent support in the Republican primary, DeSantis is in second with 16 percent, and Ramaswamy is in third place with 8 percent, ahead of Pence with 6 percent. Haley, Scott, and former Gov. Chris Christie each have 3 percent, while former Gov. Asa Hutchinson has 1 percent. Doug Burgum, Francis Suarez, and Will Hurd all hold zero percent support.
Indictments on Trump’s Side
The latest indictment, per Morning Consult, has not affected the former president’s standing.
“Following his indictment last week on charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Trump’s support among potential GOP primary voters remains unmoved at 59%. The former president leads DeSantis by 43 percentage points, as the Florida governor’s campaign reset appears to have had a negligible immediate impact on his standing in the contest,” the poll release said.
That said, per Morning Consult, GOP voters are “16 points more likely to have recently heard something negative than positive about Trump (49% to 33%) following his latest indictment.” This is similar to the effect of Trump’s previous federal indictment, although there was a more negative buzz after Trump’s indictment in New York earlier this year.
Morning Consult also found, though, that Biden leads Trump 43 to 42 in a hypothetical general election matchup, with 11 percent answering “someone else” and 5 percent answering “don’t know.” Biden also leads DeSantis 43 to 38.
“These numbers may be best considered as a test of electability — a key issue in party primaries that carries all the more significance this time around given concerns about Trump’s baggage and whether the GOP should work to maintain Trump’s coalition or to try to expand its base,” Morning Consult said.
DeSantis, after months of struggling, replaced his campaign manager this week, coming at the end of a weeks-long “reboot” that also saw many staffers depart the struggling campaign. James Uthmeier, who was DeSantis’ gubernatorial chief of staff, is the new manager.
Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, described Uthmeier’s switch as “a blatant middle finger to the people of Florida — who’s actually going to run the state while he’s gone? It’s certainly not Ron.”
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.
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