Poll: Ron DeSantis 24 points behind Donald Trump in Pennsylvania

Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are headed to Pennsylvania for a Moms for Liberty event this weekend, but new polling suggests Keystone State Republicans are more enthusiastic about the former President.

Trump has 49% support among registered Republican voters in Pennsylvania, nearly doubling DeSantis’ 25% share in a new Quinnipiac University poll. Other candidates are much further back.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence each receive 5% support. Former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina are both at 4%, with all other names at 1% or below.

“Though battling fierce legal headwinds, Trump leaves the rest of the GOP pack (including Ron DeSantis) looking like ‘also rans,”‘ said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy in a memo announcing the results.

DeSantis runs closest to Trump with GOP Primary voters who consider themselves “moderate” or “liberal,” garnering 21% support, 13 points behind Trump with that cohort. Christie is at 15% with that segment.

The Pennsylvania Primary is late in the calendar currently, but lawmakers are making moves to move it up from the current April 23 date.

An April survey from Franklin and Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research, first reported by PoliticsPA, shows DeSantis pulling 34% support in a crowded field of GOP Primary candidates. That puts him just 6 points behind Donald Trump, a stronger performance than many recent state polls.

DeSantis took a trip to the Keystone State when the poll was administered in April. The Governor addressed Republicans at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Harrisburg, offering largely familiar remarks in a speech that was well-received by the GOP faithful.

In a March Public Policy Polling survey, 49% of respondents said they backed Trump, with 31% saying they preferred the Florida Governor, so there was progress month to month.

In recent months, DeSantis has played up his roots in the Rust Belt regions of Pennsylvania and neighboring Ohio as being key to surviving the left-wing crucibles of Yale and Harvard Law School.

He offered a reminiscence in his best-selling book, “The Courage to be Free.”

“I was geographically raised in Tampa Bay,” DeSantis writes, “but culturally my upbringing reflected the working-class communities in western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio — from weekly church attendance to the expectation that one would earn his keep. This made me God-fearing, hard-working and America-loving.”