The campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to struggle for traction as former President Donald Trump continues to gain ground.
In fact, DeSantis appears to have slipped from his No. 2 perch to No. 3 behind upstart GOP candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, according to a new poll.
Cygnal, a pollster aligned with the GOP, published a survey encompassing 2,000 potential general election voters on Wednesday, showing that Ramaswamy has now garnered 11 percent of support, while DeSantis had 10 percent.
Although both trail considerably behind Trump, with 53 percent support, the change illustrates an increasing sense of doubt about DeSantis among a segment of GOP voters who are actively seeking an alternative candidate in the competition.
“Ron DeSantis has collapsed to just 10 percent, per a new presidential primary poll of 2,000 likely voters, with a margin of error of just 2.6 percent,” an analysis of the results by The National Pulse noted. “The Florida governor now finds himself in third place behind outsider Vivek Ramaswamy, suggesting that the recent strategic changes and numerous campaign shake-ups have had no effect on the Florida Governor’s precipitous decline in support.”
The outlet added:
DeSantis has hemorrhaged 19 points since March this year, with the majority of his losses being shared between Ramaswamy – currently polling at 11 percent, and former President Donald Trump, who has consolidated his lead to 53 percent, the survey from Cygnal found. It is worth noting that Cygnal VP Brock McCleary is also the Ramaswamy campaign pollster.
The Florida Governor is trailing Ramaswamy in several key demographics, including among black voters and independents. DeSantis has just two percent support among black voters and six percent from independents, whereas Ramaswamy receives 15 percent support from black voters and 13 percent from independents. DeSantis is also behind Ramaswamy amongst college-educated voters.
Since launching his campaign in February, Ramaswamy has portrayed himself as a dark horse contender, determined to outwork his rivals and confront dissenters in a primary initially perceived as a duel between Trump and DeSantis.
Nevertheless, recent stumbles by the Florida governor, such as a problematic online launch and the recent dismissal of his campaign manager along with a significant portion of his team, have provided validation to Ramaswamy’s claim that he stands ready to assume the role of GOP leader if Republicans reconsider their position on Trump.
Last month, DeSantis dropped the name of a familiar Republican leader who he appears to be considering as his running mate, even as he continues to fall in the polls.
After touting her during a GOP candidate forum with Tucker Carlson, DeSantis said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is on his short list of VP picks.
“Governor, you have spent a lot of time with Governor Reynolds, you defended her after President Trump’s recent statements,” a reporter said to DeSantis following the Carlson event, which was also held in Iowa. “Would you consider her as a potential vice presidential pick in this campaign?”
“Of course,” DeSantis said in response. “I mean, she’s one of the top public servants in America, I thought the attacks on her were totally, totally out of hand and totally unnecessary.”
“We should be thanking good Republican officeholders,” he continued. “You know, we kind of joke about the Iowa-Florida [competition], sometimes they do things before us, sometimes we do. But honestly, I want them to do better than us because it’s healthy. When Republicans are doing well, I like that, I don’t get jealous of that, I want to see them do well.”
“And so they’ve done a great job, and I think she’s been a model public servant, and anybody who’s a Republican that’s trying to denigrate her, I think, is way off base on that,” he concluded.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
