Poll: Ron DeSantis in distant third place in South Carolina

New polling from the Palmetto State shows Ron DeSantis nearly ten points out of third place, in a sign that the South Carolina GOP Primary is slipping away.

The National Public Affairs survey shows DeSantis with just 13% support, behind former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (21%) and former President Donald Trump (46%).

“Donald Trump stays solidly atop the South Carolina primary, DeSantis is doing some wheel spinning, and Nikki Haley is on the move,” reads the pollster’s Spotify description of the survey.

The pollsters described DeSantis as “stuck in neutral” during the podcast while noting Haley is in second place in this poll for the first time.

This is the second poll to have DeSantis in third place in the Palmetto State this week. The most recent Fox News poll of 809 of the state’s likely Republican primary voters shows DeSantis at 10%, eight points behind Haley and 36 points behind Trump.

While third place is disappointing, it’s technically better than the fourth place standing DeSantis had in a Washington Post poll released last week. DeSantis was at 9% in that poll, behind Sen. Tim Scott (10%), Haley (18%) and Trump (46%).

The Race to the White House polling average shows DeSantis in third place with 11%, ahead of Scott’s 10% but behind Haley (16%) and Trump (46%).

DeSantis has said he’s a “great candidate” for South Carolina and has suggested that despite still being Governor of a different state, he may sign a sublease in South Carolina to make the sale to the state’s Republicans.

DeSantis has questioned what Haley’s “record” as South Carolina Governor actually was, but it seems that at least in her home state, a sizable minority of voters believes in her.