DeSantis Closes Gap With Trump In New Poll

By hil
Posted on 11/21/22 | News Source: The Hill

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is closing the once-yawning polling gap with former President Trump as he inches closer to a 2024 White House bid.

A new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey shared exclusively with The Hill on Monday put DeSantis’s growing strength into stark relief: Since last month, the Florida governor’s standing in a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary improved by 11 points, bringing him up to 28 percent.

Trump’s support, meanwhile, plummeted 9 points to 46 percent. While he still holds a double-digit lead over DeSantis, the poll marks a drastic shift in the former president’s political strength as he embarks on his third campaign for the White House in six years.

“Month after month DeSantis has been rising and now he is cutting significantly into Trump,” Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, said. “If they both run, this will be quite a race and Trump could well lose.”

Trump announced last week that he would once again seek the Republican presidential nod in 2024, making good on something he has been hinting at since he left the White House nearly two years ago.