New polling from the Volunteer State shows Donald Trump with his biggest lead yet over Ron DeSantis.
The survey of 522 likely voters in the state’s Republican Primary, conducted between Dec. 14 and Dec. 28 by Beacon, shows the former President with 72% support, with the Florida Governor at 12% and Nikki Haley at 7%.
If there’s one piece of good news for DeSantis, it’s that 46% of respondents see him as the top second choice candidate if Trump leaves the race for whatever reason.
Still, the Governor has lost ground since the Beacon Poll from October, in which Trump was the choice of 63%, leading DeSantis by 47 points.
The March 5 Primary is a “winner-take-all” affair, with 58 delegates to the Republican National Convention at stake. As of now, that Tennessee trove of votes is Trump’s for the taking.
DeSantis has appeared in Tennessee during this campaign, but got the most news coverage for an event on an interstate highway rather than a formal speech.
The Governor’s motorcade was involved in a multicar accident in Chattanooga in July but was uninjured. The accident briefly stalled DeSantis’ progress to a campaign event in the East Tennessee city.
At the time, Team DeSantis said it appreciated “the prayers and well wishes of the nation for his continued protection while on the campaign trail.”
Earlier in July, DeSantis delivered a keynote speech for an event held by the Tennessee Republican Party. Among the highlights: a promise to maintain fiscal discipline.
“We need to have a President that can go into Washington and will actually hold the line on excessive spending and we haven’t had that probably since Ronald Reagan,” DeSantis said.
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