Poll: Ron DeSantis leads Doug Burgum in North Dakota, but trails Donald Trump by 40 points

Image via DeSantis campaign

North Dakota has 29 Republican delegates up for grabs in March’s presidential caucuses, and Florida’s Governor leads all non-Donald Trump candidates in the new “North Dakota Poll.”

While the former President has 54% of the 517 likely voters surveyed between Nov. 5 and Nov. 7, Ron DeSantis is in second place, taking 14% support.

That puts him ahead of the state’s Governor, Doug Burgum, who has 12% support. Meanwhile, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is slightly further back, with 10%. But given the +/- 4.3-percentage-point margin of error in the telephone poll, the difference between the three Trump alternatives is marginal.

Ahead of this poll’s release, Burgum took the unusual step of justifying why he’s still in the race, an obvious question given that he wasn’t even on the debate stage Wednesday in Miami, as he failed to satisfy qualification thresholds.

In an editorial in the Jamestown Sun, the North Dakota Governor contended “pundits and political insiders want to artificially narrow the field two months before the voting starts by nationalizing what is a meant to be a state-by-state, voter-driven primary process.”

“Actual voters, in early states like New Hampshire and Iowa, should determine who moves forward in the nominating process, and I’m determined to let the voters decide,” Burgum wrote.

“No one on the debate stage is better prepared to be President. I’ve created more jobs than everyone else on that debate stage combined. I’ve spent more time in the private sector than some of the other candidates have been alive! I know what it means to sign the front of a paycheck, not just the back.

While he continues to justify his candidacy, it’s tough to see his path — especially given that in a state where he might expect favorite son status, he’s a third-place afterthought.

However, it’s not unheard of for a home state Governor to trail Trump by roughly 40 points in a poll, as DeSantis’ dismal performance in the latest University of North Florida survey shows. But the op-ed suggests Burgum feels the need to justify his run for higher office at the expense of his official duties. Typically, that kind of move is closer to the end of a campaign than the beginning.