Florida Republicans prefer Governor DeSantis to former president Trump in a hypothetical matchup for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, a notable shift since February, when the same poll found that a majority of Floridians preferred the former president.
DeSantis leads Trump 48 percent to 40 percent, according to a recent USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll University poll. That’s an improvement in support for DeSantis’ presidential prospects since February, when he lagged behind Trump 40 percent to 47 percent.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean DeSantis would lead in any other GOP primary state,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told USA Today. “But it is one data point suggesting a shift in preferences from GOP voters away from Trump and toward DeSantis from Republicans who know both potential combatants quite well.”
The poll’s projection doesn’t necessarily translate to other states.
An August 16 poll released by the University of North Florida (UNF) showed similar results, with a slim majority of registered Florida Republicans favoring DeSantis over Trump in a primary 47 percent to 45 percent.
DeSantis, currently conducting a reelection campaign for governor in the Sunshine State, has consistently stayed on the GOP’s 2024 radar as he has harnessed the state’s executive power and legislative majority to achieve conservative policy goals. This week, he roused Republicans and outraged progressives by sending planes of 48 illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, using funds previously authorized by a state legislature-approved package. Democrats characterized it as an inhumane “stunt,” while many Republicans believed it sent the appropriate message to the Biden administration that unprecedented mass border-crossings overwhelm and harm unwilling communities on the border.
In November, DeSantis faces former Republican governor Charlie Crist, who converted to a Democrat after losing a 2010 GOP Senate primary to Marco Rubio and then running against Rubio as an “unaffiliated” candidate in the general election. Crist has come under fire for his confusing record on abortion, historically supporting both a “woman’s right to choose” and claiming to be “pro-life.” His teachers’ union head running mate Karla Hernández-Mats, a school shutdown proponent and colleague of American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, has also made him a target. Last week, she was caught at a campaign event claiming that her experience working with special needs children prepared her to “deal with” the state’s Republican-controlled “dysfunctional legislature.”