Gov. Ron DeSantis has reversed a polling trend months in the making, marking the latest sign of his political viability.
After months of trailing Vice President Kamala Harris in surveys of a hypothetical Presidential Election contest, DeSantis turned the tables in the November Harvard/Harris Poll.
DeSantis was the choice of 42% of those surveyed, with Harris taking 39%, and another 19% undecided. This reverses the result of previous versions of the poll consistently showing her marginally more popular than DeSantis, were the two to face off in the 2024 General Election atop their parties’ tickets.
The October Harvard/Harris Poll showed a slight Harris lead in terms of national popular vote in that election. Harris would secure 41% support, DeSantis 39%, with 20% unsure of whom they would support.
In September’s survey from the same pollster, Harris drew 41% support, with DeSantis commanding 38% backing, and a remaining 21% of respondents unsure.
A Harvard/Harris Poll from May showed Harris was the choice of 41% of respondents, with DeSantis at 38% and 20% undecided.
Harris commanded the support of 42% of those polled, with DeSantis the choice of 38% of respondents, in the April survey.
A February poll showed Harris the choice of 41% of those surveyed, with DeSantis at 39%.
A January Harvard/Harris Poll, meanwhile, had DeSantis 1 point ahead of Harris, with 40% support and just 39% for the Vice President.
DeSantis worked Harris into his closing pitch during his re-election campaign earlier this month, as part of what has been a constant stream of derision from the Governor toward the VP as “impeachment insurance.”
“No matter how bad old Joe (Biden) is, nobody wants Kamala! Nobody wants Kamala,” an exuberant DeSantis told a crowd in Palm Beach County.
After a lull in testing DeSantis vs. Biden, that has become an increasingly live survey question in the wake of the Governor’s re-election and a series of bad news cycles for former President Donald Trump.
Harvard/Harris hadn’t consistently tracked the question of how DeSantis would do against Biden, but they did so in November’s polling, and DeSantis and Biden each took 43% support, with 13% undecided.
New polling from Emerson College shows Biden up 4 points, 43% to 39%. An Echelon Insights poll shows DeSantis up 45% to 42% over Biden, while a Greenberg Research poll shows a 4-point lead for the Governor.
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