If it is between Trump and DeSantis for the GOP primary in 2024, who’s got the edge? According to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll of likely Florida voters placing their ballots in a hypothetical Republican presidential primary matchup, 48% of them would lean toward DeSantis, and 40% would vote for Trump.
In a poll that was conducted earlier this in January, it was almost the opposite, 40% leaned toward DeSantis while 47% were ready to vote for Trump.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean DeSantis would lead in any other GOP primary state,” Suffolk University Political Research Center director David Paleologos said, according to USA Today. “But it is one data point suggesting a shift in preferences from GOP voters away from Trump and toward DeSantis from Republicans who know both potential combatants quite well.”
Former President Trump has not yet announced whether or not he is going to run, but there are wide expectations for him to do so. Trump has said that he believes that he would win the election, even if DeSantis decides to go up against him.
Right now, Gov. DeSantis is trying to get elected for another term as governor in Florida. He is battling Democrat Charlie Crist, who previously served the state as governor. He was elected the last time as a GOP candidate. In 2010, he made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate as an independent. And he lost the state’s 2014 governor’s race while running as a Democrat.
Crist recently resigned from Congress where he had been serving as a Democrat lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The poll of likely voters in the governor’s race from USA Today/Suffolk University found that 48% lean toward or plan to vote for DeSantis while 41% lean toward or plan to back Crist.
In hypothetical head-to-head presidential election matchups against President Joe Biden, DeSantis does much better than Trump. 52% preferred Desantis compared to just 44% who chose Biden. But in a Trump vs. Biden scenario, 47% prefer Trump compared to 44% who would prefer Biden.
