Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis now trails former President Donald Trump in a two-man race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite previously leading the former president.
While DeSantis has yet to announce a presidential campaign, the Florida governor has emerged as a front-runner to challenge Trump for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination.
The survey of 1,516 adults, taken Feb 23-27 online, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7%.
DeSantis falls behind Trump
Trump is now leading DeSantis by eight percentage points, despite trailing behind the Florida governor by four percentage points in a previous Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
Forty-seven percent of registered Republicans and Republican leaning independents said they would vote for Trump in their state’s primary whereas 39% said that of DeSantis, the poll found.
That previous four-point lead by the Florida governor, plus Trump’s new eight-point lead, makes for a total 12-point swing toward the former president.
Trump leads among wider GOP presidential pool
The survey also found that Trump leads with double digits in a wider Republican primary pool, with 45% of likely Republican voters saying they would vote for the former president in their state’s primary.
DeSantis comes in second with 29% of those surveyed. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley got 4%. Haley announced her White House bid on Feb. 14.
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