A new survey of 1,000 Republicans reportedly found that voters in the 2024 primary prefer Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to be the GOP nominee.
DeSantis managed to achieve a convincing victory in the poll even when he was put up against eight other Republican contenders.
DeSantis would also win a head-to-head matchup with former President Donald Trump by 24 percent.
The data was derived from a WPA Intelligence survey conducted February 13-16.
DeSantis would easily win the nine-way Republican primary with an incredible 40 percent of the vote.
The poll included contenders that have already declared and some of the more well-known politicians who are expected to enter the contest in the coming months.
Trump ranks in second to DeSantis in the hypothetical contest with 31% support.
The remaining seven candidates in the planned contest all received less than 10% of the Republican vote, indicating that, while their presence in the election narrows the margin between the top two contenders, it does not entirely function as a spoiler to DeSantis.
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, received only 8% of the vote.
Former Vice President Mike Pence received 8% of the vote, as did former Wyoming Congressman Liz Cheney, who received 5% of the vote, while Trump-era Secretary of State Mike Pompeo received 2% of the vote.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who competed in the 2016 primary, and former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan both received 1% of the vote, while South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who just visited Iowa, received less than 1%.
The poll comes as Trump has stepped up his verbal attacks against the Florida Governor in recent weeks, a sign that he undoubtedly views him as the biggest threat to him in the upcoming primary contest.
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