Poll: DeSantis Plummets to Single Digits, Third Place in Texas GOP Primary

Former President Donald Trump is trouncing his Republican challengers in the Texas primary race as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falls to third place, the latest CWSResearch/Defend Texas Liberty PAC Texas survey found.

The survey asked respondents, “If the upcoming 2024 Republican Primary for president were held today, and the candidates were Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Doug Burgum, for whom would you vote?”

Notably, both former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott have since dropped out of the GOP primary race.

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Jack Knudsen / Breitbart News

Nevertheless, Trump leads with a majority support, garnering 58 percent among likely Texas GOP primary voters. No other candidate comes close, as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley comes in a distant second, 47 points behind with 11 percent support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falls to third place, in the single digits, 49 points behind Trump with nine percent support.

Vivek Ramaswamy comes in fourth place with five percent support, and remaining names saw two percent support or less. Another 13 percent remain undecided.

Further, the survey asked respondents who they would support if the field were narrowed to just Trump or DeSantis. Still, Trump takes the majority of support, 59 percent, followed by DeSantis with just 24 percent support. In that case, 17 percent remain undecided.

The survey was taken October 5-9, 2023, among 418 likely 2024 Texas GOP primary voters. It has a +/- 4.793 percent margin of error. It comes as DeSantis continues in his failure to generate significant momentum — or any at all — in his campaign, as he continues to fall behind in poll after poll.

The current RealClearPolitics (RCP) average shows DeSantis 30.3 percent behind Trump in Iowa and falling to third place behind both Trump and Haley in South Carolina as well as New Hampshire.

However, the DeSantis campaign appears to still be putting the bulk of its focus in Iowa, most recently criticizing Haley for launching a $10 million campaign in the Hawkeye State.

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Matthew Perdie / Breitbart News, Jack Knudsen / Breitbart News

“It’s clear there is no way Nikki Haley can beat Donald Trump, and every dollar spent on her candidacy is an in-kind to the Trump Campaign,” DeSantis campaign communications Director Andrew Romeo said in a statement.

He further claimed DeSantis “has the best combination of endorsements, ground game, and message in the early states, which is why the former president continues to attack only him.”