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Trump increases his lead over DeSantis: Introduction
Trump increases his lead over DeSantis: In the crucial first two states to vote, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis appear to be preparing for a closer race despite Trump’s growing national lead in the Republican presidential primary.
On Monday, a new study from the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard and the Harris Poll gave Trump a 26-point nationwide lead against DeSantis, by 50% to 24%, a four-point improvement since February.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who, like DeSantis, has not declared a run, came in third with 7%. With 5% support, Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, came in fourth.
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Trump increases his lead over DeSantis: The Poll
The poll reflected the general direction of the race, in which Trump held his first full campaign event on Saturday in Waco, Texas. The event opened with images from the attack on Congress on January 6 and a song that portrayed those who had been convicted as political prisoners.
The former president has also focused on an allegedly imminent indictment in New York City, over a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, as he attempts to whip up his base.
Many believe DeSantis is running a covert campaign while promoting a book in crucial states. He is also widely seen to be in a difficult position, needing to support Trump in the New York case while seeking to catch up in the polls via political attacks.
In return, Trump has begun to attack DeSantis in familiar, slashing terms.
DeSantis continues to struggle to have an impression on the country as the Harvard survey showed.
However, there was apparently good news for the governor from the website Axios, which revealed the findings of two polls carried out by a Republican firm.
Public Opinion Strategies’ head-to-head comparisons put DeSantis eight points ahead of Trump in Iowa, the first state to cast votes in the primary in February 2024, and level in New Hampshire, the second.
Trump increases his lead over DeSantis: The National Polls
The national polls have Trump considerably ahead of DeSantis, but these polls indicate that DeSantis is doing better in the early states where voters are more attentive, according to Axios.
Other surveys have indicated a similar possibility for anti-Trump contenders to split the vote and give the former US president the nomination without overwhelming support.
That’s what took place in 2016. Then, the Texas senator Ted Cruz won Iowa before Trump swept to victory in New Hampshire. Trump was not substantially challenged thereafter.
Mehdi Hasan, an anchor for MSNBC, was one among the commentators to draw attention to the Axios piece, calling it “a reality check for those of us LOL-ing at DeSantis’s poor performance this past week and poor polling at a national level.” He added: “State polls matter way more than national polls.” Especially in early primary states.”
But Simon Rosenberg, a Democratic strategist, and pollster advised “DeSantis world” not to get carried away by the Axios report.
Citing the GOP red wave poll BS of last year, in which the GOP scored big gains but won the House by a narrow margin, Rosenberg said the Public Opinion Strategies surveys were “not quite as good for DeSantis as Axios portrayed”.
