Republicans back former President Donald Trump by double digits in a head-to-head matchup against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday found.
The survey asked respondents, “If the choice for the Republican nomination were between former President Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, who would you vote for?”
It’s a virtual tie among all likely voters, as Trump leads by a single percentage point — 34 percent to DeSantis’s 33 percent. One-quarter, 25 percent, said some other candidate, and nine percent remain unsure.
However, among Republicans specifically, Trump leads nearly 2-1, as a majority, 58 percent, said they would support the former president. DeSantis falls 28 points behind with 30 percent support. Eight percent said, “some other candidate,” and four percent remain unsure.
Notably, DeSantis appears to have the edge among independents in this survey, as 34 percent said they would choose DeSantis, compared to 25 percent who said Trump. The Florida governor also performs better among Democrats, as 33 percent chose DeSantis, compared to 19 percent who said Trump.
More per Rasmussen Reports:
Another interesting finding is that, among all Likely Voters who say they would choose DeSantis over Trump as the GOP 2024 nominee, 40% would choose Biden over DeSantis in the general election.
DeSantis gets favorable ratings from more men (53%) than women voters (45%), but women are more likely to think DeSantis has a chance to win the 2024 Republican nomination. In a head-to-head matchup between Biden and DeSantis, Biden has a slight edge (43% to 42%) among women voters, while DeSantis wins men by 46%-44% margin.
DeSantis is viewed at least somewhat favorably by 54% of whites, 47% of black voters and 35% of other minorities. In a head-to-head 2024 matchup, DeSantis would get support from 51% of whites, 19% of black voters and 36% of other minorities, while Biden would get 40% of whites, 65% of black voters and 44% of other minorities.
The survey was taken May 30 to June 1, 2023, among 1,012 likely voters and has a +/- 3 percent margin of error:
It coincides with a recent Yahoo News/YouGov survey which also found Trump leading not only DeSantis but every potential Republican challenger — former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — in a head-to-head matchup:
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