Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has bested former President Donald Trump as top pick for 2024 in a Wisconsin Republican Party straw poll.
The WisPolitics.com poll of attendees of the Wisconsin Republican Convention was conducted during the event on Saturday.
When presented with a hypothetical 2024 GOP field, nearly 38 percent of attendants backed DeSantis, while Trump came in second at 32 percent. None of the other possible candidates made it into the double digits.
WisPolitics reports that 43 percent of the participants said that they want Trump to run again, while just less than 32 percent were opposed and 22 percent indicated that they were unsure.
DeSantis has not ruled out a run in 2024.
Trump has not formally announced his candidacy, but has heavily implied that he intends to run.
While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Trump stated that he has already won twice and that he will be doing it again for a “third time.”
🚨BREAKING: …he’s running 👀🔥
Trump at @CPAC tonight on running in 2024: “We did it twice, and we’ll do it again. We’ll be doing it again a third time.”
🎥 – @RSBNetwork pic.twitter.com/sA5RdqQh2Q
— The Truth Gazette (@Truth_Gazette) February 27, 2022
“We did it twice, and we’ll do it again. We’re going to be doing it again a third time,” Trump said to massive applause. “November 2024 they will find out like never before.”
Trump continued, “The socialists, globalists, Marxists and communists who are attacking our civilization have no idea of the sleeping giant that they have awoken. We are a sleeping giant.”
There have been some reports indicating that Trump is privately annoyed that DeSantis has not vowed not to run in 2024.
According to a report from Axios in January, Trump is “trashing Ron DeSantis in private as an ingrate with a ‘dull personality’ and no realistic chance of beating him in a potential 2024 showdown,” though they did not name their source.
The report continued, “a second source who’s discussed DeSantis with Trump said the reason for the former president’s irritation with the popular governor is ‘that Ron DeSantis won’t say he won’t run [in 2024]. … The others have stated pretty clearly they won’t challenge him.'”
