Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump still dominates in first 2024 GOP poll since DeSantis announcement

Florida governor begins three-state swing of key Republican constituencies as campaign gets underway

Oliver O'Connell
New York
Tuesday 30 May 2023 20:45 BST
Comments
Who is Ron DeSantis?

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

In the first Republican Party 2024 primary poll conducted since Ron DeSantis officially entered the race, Donald Trump still holds a commanding lead over the other candidates.

The former president has a substantial lead over the Florida governor, with Mr Trump ahead with 43 per cent of the vote and Mr DeSantis in second place with 18 per cent.

Commissioned by American Greatness, the poll of 500 likely South Carolina Republican primary voters was conducted by National Research Inc.

The results were published on 26 May and have South Carolina Senator Tim Scott in third place with 12 per cent of the vote and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in fourth place with 10 per cent.

As with Mr DeSantis, Senator Scott only declared his candidacy last week on 22 May, with the Florida governor officially announcing his run for the White House on 24 May in a glitchy and much-derided Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk.

“Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The former president has been taking aim at Mr DeSantis for months, attacking him on a number of issues including his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in his state, and insisting he would not have been elected without a Trump endorsement.

Since his campaign launch, Mr DeSantis has blitzed rightwing media with appearances and has now hit the campaign trail with stops scheduled in 12 cities across three early voting states this week — Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Four other GOP candidates failed to make much of an impression in the American Greatness poll, with Asa Hutchinson, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Chris Sununu each getting one per cent of the vote.

On the question of favourability, Mr Trump leads Mr DeSantis by only six points, with 72 per cent to 66 per cent.

However, slightly more of those polled had an unfavourable opinion of Mr Trump versus the Florida governors, at 25 per cent to 24 per cent.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in