A new poll found that, if the 2024 Republican primary were held today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would beat former President Donald Trump.
Although DeSantis has not yet announced his intention to run for president, he is seen as one of Trump's biggest challengers.
According to data collected by Yahoo News/YouGov, the Florida governor leads the former president by four points in the hypothetical head-to-head scenario.
NEW: Our latest survey w/@YahooNews shows that DeSantis leads Trump 45% to 41% in a head-to-head 2024 primary matchup, but when Nikki Haley is offered as a candidate, voters prefer Trump to DeSantis.https://t.co/vq6TuGbq83 pic.twitter.com/9tbEHljkJI
— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) February 8, 2023
A poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire projected DeSantis to beat Trump by 12 points.
Open to a new candidate
"The Republican Party should make sure that whoever we nominate actually wins," said David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, which has already announced it will not endorse Trump. "The party should be open to looking for a different candidate. DeSantis is in the strongest position," he added.
DeSantis has opened up a 12-point lead against Trump in NH according to the latest poll: pic.twitter.com/cQ6f2VQW0A
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) January 30, 2023
Half a million newly registered Republicans in Florida
DeSantis has gained national notoriety because of his big election win in November, when he won re-election as governor of the Sunshine State, where nearly half a million additional voters have registered as Republican (and only 17,000 as Democrats) since DeSantis has held the state’s highest position.
"We're wiping out Democrats. I didn't believe it. I had to check the numbers because I just couldn't believe it, but it ends up being true," said Christian Ziegler, vice chairman of the Florida GOP. In Ziegler's view, De Santis is focusing on issues that other leaders would rather not touch because "he understands there's a culture war." "He knows what the left is trying to do by taking over our schools and really influencing the most easily influenced demographic, which is children (...) They are promoting critical race theory, 1619 (a woke paradigm of U.S. history), sexual issues (...) And the governor realizes all of that."
