Poll: Ron DeSantis Melting, Dropping 7 Points Nationally over Summer

WILDWOOD, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES - JUNE 6: Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis listens to a speaker during a press conference during which he signed a bill to protect the digital rights of Floridians, on June 6, 2023 in Wildwood, Florida. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Hannah Bleau

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped seven points over the last two months in terms of support in the Republican primary race, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll found.

The survey analyzed the current state of the race mere weeks ahead of the first Republican debate, taking place on August 23, 2023, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

As is consistent with several other surveys — both national and state-level — former President Donald Trump is leading with majority support. Fifty-seven percent of registered Republican voters support his bid for the nomination, reflecting a two-point jump from the 55 percent who said the same in June.

DeSantis has not only struggled to gain ground on Trump, but his second-place status continues to slip, even as his campaign goes through several readjustments — from laying off dozens of staffers to replacing his campaign manager.

Despite those changes, DeSantis has continued to stumble, falling to 12 percent support in this survey — seven percent less than the results in June, when he saw 19 percent support. In July, his support slipped to 14 percent.

Anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, meanwhile, remains on the rise, coming just four points behind DeSantis, in third place with eight percent support. That reflects a six-point increase from the two percent he saw in the last survey.

Three other challengers fell short, losing one percent of support since June. That includes former Vice President Mike Pence with five percent support, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley with four percent support, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott with two percent support.

The survey observed that Trump’s recent indictments are not only not hurting the former president, they could be helping, as his strength is increasing.

The survey was taken August 2-4, 2023, among 529 registered Republicans and GOP-leaning independents. It has a +/- 4.3 percent margin of error.

DeSantis’s decline in this survey comes as other polls tell a similar story.

A recent Kaplan Strategies survey found DeSantis falling to third place behind Ramaswamy with ten percent support, and a National Public Affairs poll released over the weekend found the Florida governor crashing in South Carolina, down five percent since June as Scott and Haley emerge just two points behind DeSantis in the Palmetto State.

Former President Donald Trump correctly predicted this phenomenon — DeSantis losing his second-place status — during an exclusive on-camera interview with Breitbart News last month.

“People said he was a lousy candidate,” Trump said. “He turned out to be a lousy candidate. I don’t think he’s going to be second very long. It looks like he’s being superseded by others or getting very close.”

Exclusive — Trump on DeSantis: “He’s Crashing Badly,” Will Be “Superseded” in Second Place
Matthew Perdie / Breitbart News, Jack Knudsen / Breitbart News

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