The Republican Party is facing a massive decision in 2024.
But the early returns will shock you.
And that’s because Donald Trump was handed the results of one new poll that told this surprising story.
If Donald Trump runs for president in 2024, Trump is the overwhelming favorite to win the GOP nomination.
That is not surprising.
However, the real take-away from the poll was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ growing strength.
Former Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio conducted the survey which showed Trump winning about 50 percent of the vote in a hypothetical 2024 Republican presidential primary.
But Ron DeSantis scored 19 percent of the vote demonstrating his emerging profile as a national Republican leader.
“Trump remains the clear leader of the party. If he decided to run again for president in a crowded 2024 primary field, he would get roughly half of the vote, with DeSantis in a distant second place at 19 percent, according to a new survey of GOP voters from veteran Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio. Everyone else — including former Vice President Mike Pence — would be in single digits,” POLITICO reports.
If Trump runs, there is little chance DeSantis does run, so Donald Trump’s standing in a 2024 GOP primary is actually stronger than this poll shows.
Fabrizio described his poll’s findings as showing that Trump is still the unquestioned leader of the Republican Party, but that GOP voters settled on an heir apparent.
“For all the talk of the party moving on from Trump, it’s not the case. If he runs, he’s still the 800-pound gorilla,” Fabrizio told POLITICO. “But while it’s Trump’s party, there is a clear successor — and that’s DeSantis. He’s the crown prince.”
Fabrizio’s survey confirmed DeSantis’ position in the on-deck circle by showing DeSantis with 39 percent of the vote, far outpacing second-place finisher former Vice President Mike Pence.
POLITICO reports:
Without Trump running, the poll shows DeSantis gets 39 percent of the theoretical GOP primary vote and Pence is at 15 percent. That’s a 22-point increase for the governor — and a smaller, 4-point decrease for the former vice president — since Fabrizio’s last survey.
The other potential contenders lag far behind. All are in single digits: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz registers at 7 percent, which puts him ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (4 percent), Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (3 percent); South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 2 percent each.
Governor DeSantis first achieved national recognition when he quickly reopened Florida in 2020 and rejected mask mandates.
When Dr. Fauci predicted doom, COVID patients never overwhelmed Florida’s hospitals and the unemployment rate stayed below the national average.
In 2021, DeSantis signed legislation banning biological males from playing girls’ sports, preventing Big Tech censorship of political candidates in Florida, and blocking any business or institution in the state from requiring proof of vaccination to enter the premises.
If Donald Trump does not run for president in 2024 there could be up to 30 Republicans running for president.
But the early polling data and general feeling among grassroots activists is that it would be Ron DeSantis’ race to lose.
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