Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ support has slumped to the lowest percentage since his campaign began, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll.
Former President Trump remains far ahead of the crowded primary field, with 57 percent support among Republican and Republican-leaning voters.
The national poll, released on Wednesday, found that just 18 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters support the governor.
The pollsters noted, “In February 2023, DeSantis was 6 points behind Trump and now he is 39 points behind.”
“In today’s poll, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy receives 5 percent support; former Vice President Mike Pence receives 4 percent support; and former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie each receive 3 percent support. All other listed Republican candidates receive 1 percent or less support,” the poll found.
The governor recently replaced his campaign manager and laid off one-third of the staff. A total of 38 employees were cut after an “internal review.”
DeSantis is even struggling to win over voters in his own state.
A poll conducted by Florida Atlantic University Mainstreet PolCom Lab earlier this month, found that 50 percent of Republican primary voters in Florida support Trump. DeSantis is in second place, with just 30 percent support.
“Although DeSantis and Trump enjoy significant popularity among Floridians, Trump maintains a formidable 20 percent lead over DeSantis among statewide GOP primary voters, with Trump capturing the support of 50 percent of Republican voters compared to DeSantis’ 30 percent,” the pollsters reported.
The poll additionally found that one in five Florida Republicans perceive supporting a candidate other than Trump in the primaries as “disloyal,” which they noted poses “a challenging environment for any contender seeking to challenge the former president’s dominance.”
According to the Real Clear Politics average of national polls, DeSantis has support from only 14.6 percent of Republican primary voters, down from 31 percent in late March. Trump maintains 54.8 percent support.
The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted on August 10 to August 14 among 681 Republican and Republican leaning voters. The margin of error of is +/- 3.8 percentage points.
