New polling of Hawkeye State Republicans suggests Ron DeSantis may be making a surge in the pivotal caucus state.
A Trafalgar Group survey conducted from Dec. 1 through Dec. 4 shows that among 1,091 likely voters, the Florida Governor is in second place with 22% support, 4 points better than his November showing.
While Donald Trump enjoys a 23-point lead, at 45%, DeSantis is ahead of Nikki Haley’s 18%. Haley is also 4 points ahead of the previous month.
No other candidate has more than 5% support.
This poll is stronger than usual for the Florida Governor and the former South Carolina Governor both, per Race to the White House. The aggregation site’s average poll shows Trump with 45%, but DeSantis at 17% and Haley at 15%.
DeSantis has said he’s confident that he will ultimately prevail despite what surveys say six weeks before the Jan. 15 vote.
“If you look at past Iowa caucus winners, and compare to what people were saying in November with this poll or that poll, it almost never comes out the same way,” DeSantis said on “Meet the Press” Sunday.
“So we have a great base of support. We have a much wider base of people who are potential caucusgoers who believe that I’ve been a great Governor and would be a good President. And we’ve just got to bring that home when people start to make their decisions.”
The Governor claimed he saw “resistance on the ground” to “polls” and “pundits,” which he expects to reflect in his performance next month.
DeSantis also made hay of visiting all the counties in the state in the same interview, thus completing the “Full Grassley,” a reference to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s penchant for making the rounds in Iowa.
“Doing all 99 counties is a tradition here. It’s something that Governor Kim Reynolds advised that I do,” he said during the same interview.
While in Iowa, DeSantis said “consultants” offer different counsel about running that particular gauntlet.
“They will advise you not to do it,” DeSantis claimed on Saturday.
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