Hopes by conservatives that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would be an acceptable alternative to former President Donald Trump are in doubt.
DeSantis battles with Disney World and other actions have not helped him in recent conservative polls.
A new poll from Emerson College on April 27 shows DeSantis is falling behind Trump by 46 points in the GOP primary race. Trump’s lead has increased by 20 points since January 2023.
Trump endorsements are also increasing, including one from the Mayor of East Palestine, Ohio, Trent Conaway. Trump was the first candidate running for president to visit East Palestine following the horrific rail disaster there. In March, Democrat presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. also visited and held a seminar in East Palestine.
DeSantis had been trying to get a foothold in Ohio, but Ohio Senator J.D. Vance endorsed Donald Trump.
In preliminary polling, Trump has a comfortable lead of 62 percent, with DeSantis at 16 percent. Others in the race are former Vice President Mike Pence at 7 percent, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley at 3 percent, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also 3 percent, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christy and 2 percent, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson at 2 percent, and Someone Else polled at 4 percent.
In January and February, Donald Trump remained strong at 55 percent. DeSantis slipped from 29 percent in January to 25 percent in February. DeSantis is down in the polls by 15 points since the beginning of January 2023.
Trump touted the new poll as an endorsement of his policies, such as energy independence, building a strong military, securing America’s borders, lowering taxes and interest rates, and reestablishing our lost respect in the world.
Trump spoke in New Hampshire on April 30 while DeSantis was on a foreign trip to Israel and Japan.
It’s expected that DeSantis will announce a run for the presidency sometime in the middle of May when the Florida legislature ends the 2023 session.
