Ron DeSantis romps over Donald Trump in poll of South Carolina Republicans’ 2024 preference
Ron DeSantis isn't sure what Donald Trump means with a long-standing nickname.

trump desantis
Palmetto State Republicans prefer 'America's Governor' to the former President.

Former President Donald Trump is nearly 20 points behind Gov. Ron DeSantis in a poll of South Carolina Republicans regarding next year’s Presidential Primary.

The survey from the South Carolina Policy Council, conducted by Spry Strategies, shows Trump mustering just 33% support against DeSantis in a head-to-head, with DeSantis garnering 52% support.

The poll stratified responses based on how favorably respondents rated Trump, leading to some interesting divisions.

Respondents who regarded Trump unfavorably, or had no opinion on the former President, gave DeSantis more than 70% of their support. Yet even those who had a “somewhat favorable” read on Trump picked DeSantis, 63% to 18%.

All told, of Republican Primary voters that viewed Trump very favorably said the GOP should nominate someone else. Even among those who had a “very favorable” impression of Trump, 30% chose DeSantis, with the former President getting just 61% among those respondents who liked him the most.

When the results of the two-way contest were recalibrated to reflect those who wanted Trump or “someone else,” meanwhile, 79% of those who wanted an alternative picked DeSantis.

The poll comes as the former President prepares to ramp up his presence in the Palmetto State, with a rally on Saturday in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, an event at which U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Henry McMaster will lend their support. The Associated Press reported the Trump campaign is planning for “500 attendees” at the State House.

The survey ran from Jan. 17-19 and sampled 637 likely South Carolina voters. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


3 comments

  • Tallahassee Insider

    January 25, 2023 at 1:41 pm

    Ron DeSantis has syphilis though.
    He won’t be able to to serve as POTUS, and probably not as Governor much longer either. He is in serious cognitive decline.

  • Sean Enochs

    January 25, 2023 at 4:29 pm

    This is laughable. A Florida politics poll, never heard of, is reporting a poll of a total of 600 people in South Carolina showing DeSantis romping Trump? May be but 600 is a far cry from 100 million. Look, if Somehow he did win the primary and then President, our Country would not survive the state it’s in now. It would be like putting a rookie Quarterback in an NFL playoff game not expecting the Starter to get injured. He’s too young. And way more prominent polling institutions that have polled more like 20 thousand people show the opposite of your polls. I love DeSantis for 2028 and then hopefully a second term. DJT is only person that can Destroy Deep State and turn or Country back to #1 in the World

  • Stan

    January 31, 2023 at 10:20 am

    desantis need not run yet – he needs to wait till after we get trump in to take our country back -2028 desantis

Comments are closed.


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