Peach State voters prefer Gov. Ron DeSantis to President Joe Biden, according to a fresh Emerson College poll of very likely Georgia voters, conducted Nov. 28-30.
DeSantis held a 4-point advantage over Biden, 47% to 43%, with 6% wanting another candidate and 4% undecided.
In edging out Biden, DeSantis is doing what former President Donald Trump couldn’t in the same poll. Biden actually has an edge over Trump at 43% to 42%, with 11% wanting another option and 2% undecided.
Independent voters are a key reason for the performance difference. Biden holds a 6-point lead over Trump, with 20% of independents wanting another option. But DeSantis leads Biden by 3 points, and just 8% of independent voters want someone else.
DeSantis’ marginally better performance than Trump’s spans both genders. Trump trailed Biden by 7 points among female voters, while DeSantis was only 2 points down with the same cohort. And while Trump led by 8 with male voters over Biden, DeSantis’ 11-point edge was even more impressive.
DeSantis has seen strength in a number of Georgia polls that tracked a potential head-to-head contest between Trump and him in a hypothetical 2024 Primary, showing a history of strength compared to the former President in the neighboring state.
A pre-Election Georgia poll pitting Trump against DeSantis shows the Florida Governor ahead 52% to 36%. Echelon Insights conducted that poll between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, and the results comport with other Georgia polling this cycle showing DeSantis getting the duke in the Peach State over Trump.
DeSantis has not been especially active in Georgia politics, in contrast to Trump, who was an early champion of Senate nominee Herschel Walker. But he did have a line before the November election warning against electing a recurrent Democratic candidate.
“If Stacey Abrams is elected Governor of Georgia, I just want to be honest, that will be a cold war between Florida and Georgia,” DeSantis said at a press conference back in the spring. “I can’t have (former Cuban leader Raúl) Castro to my south and Abrams to my north, that would be a disaster. So I hope you guys take care of that and we’ll end up in good shape.”
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