Poll: Black and Hispanic Republicans pick Vivek Ramaswamy over Ron DeSantis

Are minority voters key to Vivek Ramaswamy’s polling surge at Ron DeSantis’ expense?

That’s one takeaway from a new Navigator Research survey that shows Ramaswamy ahead of DeSantis with both Black and Hispanic Republicans.

The survey, which was in the field from Aug. 3 through Aug. 7, shows Ramaswamy firmly in second place with African American GOP Primary voters, with 23% support compared to 14% for DeSantis. Both men are way behind Donald Trump’s 49% with the same demographic.

The margin with Hispanic voters is much smaller. Ramaswamy has 12% among that group, while DeSantis has 10%. Both men are well behind Trump’s 56%.

DeSantis is ahead of Ramaswamy among White voters, 13% to 10%. Among Asian-American and Pacific Islander voters, DeSantis leads Trump and Ramaswamy. DeSantis has 41% support versus 30% for the former President and 14% for Ramaswamy.

While not every poll offers demographic breakdowns of its results, at least one other survey has shown DeSantis seeming to struggle with Black voters.

In a Cygnal survey conducted from Aug. 1 through Aug. 3, DeSantis is in eighth place among that demographic cohort, of whom just 2% back DeSantis. This puts him behind Trump, Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Larry Elder and Ryan Binkley, suggesting that the Governor’s position that slavery benefited enslaved people isn’t selling with Black Republican voters.