Ron DeSantis’ much-vaunted Florida Blueprint increasingly looks like a tough sell to the state’s Republican presidential Primary voters.
In a Victory Insights survey of 1,220 voters conducted Dec. 8 and 9, the Governor has hit a new low in polling against Donald Trump.
Trump has 59% support, with DeSantis at 19% and Nikki Haley at 8%. Compounding the difficulty for DeSantis, 95% of respondents say they are committed to their choice.
“Trump boasts a more than 40% lead over any of his challengers, and even if the race came down to only Trump and DeSantis, Trump still leads by more than 30 points. DeSantis’s decline since our last poll in August could be attributed to Nikki Haley’s rise — the former UN Ambassador has picked up 6 points while the Florida Governor has lost 4,” notes pollster Ben Galbraith.
A head-to-head matchup between Trump and DeSantis is likewise lopsided, with Trump at 57% and Trump at 26%.
“Trump remains the clear favorite for the 2024 GOP nomination, even in Ron DeSantis’ home state of Florida. In our latest survey, Floridians’ support for DeSantis’ presidential bid has now dropped into the teens. Not only is this the lowest we’ve seen him since we began tracking this race over a year ago, it’s the lowest support recorded for him in Florida from any pollster at any point in the race. The DeSantis campaign appears to be in free fall,” Galbraith notes.
There is one bright spot for DeSantis: The more money a voter has, the more likely they back the Governor.
“DeSantis does great with the wealthy and horrible with the poor. (In the head-to-head in this poll, Trump leads the lower class by 44% and the upper class by only 23%. Every poll we do we find a similar trend),” Galbraith noted.
This is just the latest Florida poll to show Trump leading by roughly 40 points.
A Florida Atlantic University survey from November showed Trump leading DeSantis, 61% to 20%.
The University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab in a November poll showed Trump had 60% support while DeSantis had just 21% backing.
Florida’s March 19 Primary is a winner-take-all contest, in which 125 delegates to the Republican National Convention will be allocated.
Galbraith’s take is that it’s basically a done deal.
“With just over a month to go until the 2024 Iowa Caucus, the Republican primary for President of the United States seems to be shaping up to be a blowout. Though the DeSantis campaign has outwardly expressed confidence in a viable path to victory, the poll numbers tell a very different story.”
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