Florida governor Ron DeSantis has emerged as the frontrunner in a potential 2024 Republican presidential primary, if former President Trump is not included in the field, according to a poll by Echelon Insights.
When asked who they would vote for if Trump does not run in 2024, 17 percent of Republican respondents said they would choose DeSantis, an increase of 9 percent from the same poll taken in February. Former vice president Mike Pence received 16 percent, down 5 percent from February.
Desantis’s support was bolstered by respondents who labeled themselves as “Trump-first” Republicans, while Pence drew backing from “party-first” Republican respondents.
However, the poll showed that Trump still has deep support among Republicans. When asked whether they would vote for Trump or a different candidate in a GOP primary if it were held today, 60 percent of Republican respondents said they would “definitely” or “probably” back the former president.
The survey by Echelon, a firm founded by Republican pollsters, was based on interviews with 1,008 registered voters and was conducted from Mach 15 through March 21.
The poll was conducted as Republicans attempt to plan ahead to the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential elections, following Trump’s loss of the presidency and Democrats’ achievement of a tie in the Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaking vote.
Trump adviser Jason Miller said the former president would launch his own social media company in the next several months, in a move that could draw Republicans dissatisfied with other media outlets.
“It’s going to completely redefine the game, and everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what President Trump does, but it will be his own platform,” Miller told MediaBuzz on Sunday. The move comes after Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube banned Trump in the wake of the January 6 riots at the Capitol.
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