Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is leading in the latest University of North Florida (UNF) Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) survey on the potential 2024 Republican primary race in Florida.
The survey asked registered voters in Florida who they would support in the 2024 GOP primary, and unlike other national surveys, this poll focusing on Florida, specifically, shows Gov. Ron DeSantis leading in his home state with 52 percent support.
Former President Donald Trump comes in second place with 27 percent support, followed by Nikki Haley with four percent support, former Rep. Liz Cheney with three percent support, and former Vice President Mike Pence with two percent support. No other potential candidate listed received greater than one percent support.
The survey also found both Trump and DeSantis leading President Biden in a 2024 matchup. DeSantis, for instance, leads Biden 51 percent to 42 percent, and Trump leads Biden 50 percent to 43 percent:
The survey was taken February 25 to March 7 among 1,452 registered voters. It has a +/- 2.57 percent margin of error.
While DeSantis has not jumped into the presidential race, Florida GOP chairman Christian Ziegler made it clear that the Republican Party of Florida will stay “neutral” in the race, no matter who throws their hat into the presidential ring,
“President Trump was one of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had, if not the greatest. I mean, he really laid the foundation,” he said during a March 4 appearance on Breitbart News Saturday.
“Governor DeSantis he has not announced that he’s running for president yet. I mean, we’ll see if he does or not, but I don’t know if there’s been a better governor in the history of this country than Governor Ron DeSantis, and he’s really going after these issues every single day fighting for us, so I do have a great relationship with both men,” Ziegler explained, praising both men and further emphasizing that the Florida GOP will allow the grassroots to choose the nominee.
“We’re going to support both men. We’re going to stay neutral. And we’re going to allow the grassroots to pick and then whoever they pick, we’re gonna make sure they get elected, whether it’s President Trump [or] Governor DeSantis. We’re going to let the grassroots pick. We’re going to work like hell to get them elected afterwards,” he added.
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