A.G. Gancarski
New polling from Iowa puts Ron DeSantis firmly in second place, yet with less than half of Donald Trump’s support.
The survey from NBC News and the Des Moines Register shows Trump with 42% support, 23 points ahead of DeSantis’ 19%.
Other candidates are in single digits, including Tim Scott (9%), Nikki Haley and Mike Pence (6%), Chris Christie (5%), Vivek Ramaswamy (4%), Doug Burgum (2%) and Will Hurd (1%).
“Trump leads DeSantis among self-identified Republican caucusgoers (51% to 20%), among first-time caucugsoers (47% to 18%) and among evangelical Christians (47% to 20%),” notes NBC News.
The survey of 406 likely caucus participants was in the field from Aug. 13 through Aug. 17.
This poll follows the general trend of Iowa polling. A survey released Friday of 1,126 likely caucus participants from the Trafalgar Group shows DeSantis with 16% support, 26 points behind the former President’s 42%.
DeSantis is trailing the former President 43% to 17% in the Race to the White House polling average, but the Governor says his campaign’s strategy of concentrating on the Hawkeye State will pay off.
“I think we’re doing very well in Iowa. I would not trade places with anybody else,” DeSantis said on the “Dana Show.” The Governor was responding to a question about whether the state was “make or break” for him.
“At the end of the day, this can be a long slog as, you know, it depends on how the field shapes up and everything. We’re built for the long haul. We’ll be there all the way until the end. But I really like what’s happening for us in the state of Iowa right now,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis has vowed to hit all 99 counties in Iowa in what is called the “Full Grassley,” a reference to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s campaign style over the decades. While that approach hasn’t led to a breakthrough by DeSantis for the top spot, he’s still proving to be the most compelling Trump alternative in these surveys.
