Poll: Tim Scott threatens Ron DeSantis’ second place standing in Iowa

Ron DeSantis. Image via AP.

Florida’s Governor needs to watch his back in the Hawkeye State, as a new poll says Ron DeSantis has serious competition for second place.

The Coefficient Poll, conducted by the Donald Trump campaign and reported first by The Hill, shows just 6 points separating DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

DeSantis has 16% support, with Scott at 10%. Both men are way behind Trump at 46%.

The rest of the field is further back still, with Vivek Ramaswamy at 5%, and Chris Christie, Nikki Haley and Mike Pence tied at 3% each. An additional 10% of Iowans are unsure who they back yet.

The Hill notes the pollster “surveyed 2,283 likely Republican Iowa caucus participants and was conducted from July 15-17 via mobile text responses and landline phone interviews. The poll has a margin of error of 2.6 (percentage points).”

The poll comes in the wake of a DeSantis campaign memo that says Scott is a target for the foreseeable future, a seeming tacit admission that the South Carolina Senator’s surge is at the Governor’s expense.

“While Tim Scott has earned a serious look at this stage, his bio is lacking the fight that our electorate is looking for in the next President,” the memo asserts. “We expect Tim Scott to receive appropriate scrutiny in the weeks ahead.”

The new polling otherwise reinforces a familiar narrative in the Hawkeye State, one established by independent surveys.

A July survey conducted by National Research Inc. and reported by American Greatness reveals Trump leads DeSantis, 44% to 21%.

In a recent National Public Affairs poll, Trump is up 41% to 18%.

The Race to the White House average for the state also shows Trump leading DeSantis, 45% to 22%.