Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers continue to collapse, with another survey showing a not-so-sweet 16.
A survey of 436 likely GOP Primary voters conducted April 24-27 by McLaughlin and Associates shows DeSantis mustering just 16% in a crowded field including Donald Trump and other declared and potential candidates.
The former President leads the field, with 52% support. DeSantis is firmly in second place, 10 points ahead of Mike Pence (6%), and 12 points ahead of Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy (each with 4%).
Undecided voters make up 7% of the sample, and no other name polled has more than 2% support.
Trump held a 23-point lead when this poll was taken a month ago, and the weeks since have only fortified the former President’s position.
DeSantis’ doldrums extend to the head-to-head sample, where Trump holds 67% support against 26% for DeSantis. To put this in perspective, Trump picks up 60% of the support from the other names when they are excised from the survey.
The McLaughlin poll is the second recent survey to show DeSantis at 16%.
An Emerson College poll in the field Monday and Tuesday of last week has DeSantis 46 points behind Trump. That survey shows Pence in third place again, this time with 7% support.
These polls diverge from the FiveThirtyEight average of polls, which shows a Trump trend in aggregate. The former President leads DeSantis 51% to 23% on average, with Pence at 6% and Nikki Haley at 4%.
Predictably, Trump is gloating as DeSantis struggles, mocking the Governor as he seems to be lurching toward a launch in the coming weeks.
“He’s going to form an exploratory committee to determine — well, that’s a big step because he said he was never looking at committees. Now he’s looking at committees. It’s amazing what being 40 down does,” Trump said on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast Saturday. “The donors are largely leaving him now.”
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