DeSantis slips, Ramaswamy storms into second place: Poll

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and political novice Vivek Ramaswamy tied for second place in the GOP primary contest, each with 10% support — four days ahead of the contest’s first debate, a new statewide poll showed Saturday.

But both Republicans are well behind former President Donald Trump, who leads them both by a 46% margin Emerson College survey found.

With 56% of registered Republicans on his side, Trump’s support has barely deviated from the 59% mark the same poll found in June — despite the three separate charges brought against him over the same period.

The pollster found a sharp 11% drop for DeSantis, which had the support of 21% Republicans in the same poll two months ago — a drop that mirrored the results of other recent polls — and the rest of the field remained in the low ones list digits.

Meanwhile, support for Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old businessman, has risen 8% since June, the Emerson poll showed.

“Ramaswamy has improved among Republican voters with a postgraduate degree, a group that was previously part of the DeSantis rank and file,” said Spencer Kimball, the poll’s executive director, and “has made inroads among GOP voters under 35.” .

The results could spark fireworks at Wednesday’s Republican debate, where DeSantis will reportedly “take a sledgehammer to the party’s rising star,” according to a leaked campaign strategy document.

The Aug. 16-17 poll of 465 registered Republican voters was part of a nationwide poll of 1,000 voters that had a 3% margin of error.

The entire panel noted that Trump was in a neck-and-neck race with President Biden in the general election, with 44% supporting each and 12% of voters undecided.