Poll: Ron DeSantis in 43-point hole in Minnesota

Image via Ron DeSantis campaign.

While Ron DeSantis may have seen the old movie “Feeling Minnesota” once upon a time, a new survey of the state’s GOP and Republican-leaning voters suggests they aren’t “feeling” the Florida Governor as a presidential candidate.

The MinnPost poll, conducted Nov. 14-17 by Embold Research, finds the Governor in a very distant second place behind Donald Trump, who leads him 60% to 17% when “leaners” are added to the mix. Without them, Trump leads 58% to 15%.

This is especially bad news ahead of the March 5 Primary, in which 39 delegates will be allocated on a winner-take-all basis.

Meanwhile, DeSantis faces familiar competition for second place.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has 12% support, good for third place.

No other name tested has more than 4% support, and 5% of respondents aren’t sure who they will back.

Though DeSantis hasn’t campaigned in Minnesota, he has introduced the state’s issues into speeches in neighboring Iowa, including contending “people that come from Minnesota have been fleeing” to Florida, which perhaps explains his sad showing in the survey if those residents who might have supported him simply relocated before they could vote for him in the state’s Primary.

Also regarding a prominent Minnesota issue, DeSantis recently attacked Haley as a “liberal Republican” for suggesting that people should be moved by the police execution of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

“She has accepted liberal narratives on a whole bunch of things. When the BLM (Black Lives Matter) riots happened, the George Floyd riots, I called out the National Guard. I was not going to let that happen in Florida. I stood by the police,” DeSantis said. “She said that it needed to be personal and painful for each and every American.”

“Why would it need to be personal and painful for you? You had nothing to do with it. Did you tell that cop to do anything? Of course not. It’s just buying these ridiculous narratives. And so I think it’s clear what she’s trying to do.”

DeSantis made a similar point on a radio show, accusing Haley of “tweeting that it needed to be personal and painful for every single person. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why does that need to be personal and painful for you or me? We had nothing to do with it.’”

In 2021, DeSantis signed so-called “anti-riot” legislation in reaction to the Floyd murder and the aftermath that saw street demonstrations nationwide.

At that time, he addressed the case against Derek Chauvin, saying it was “bungled” in Minnesota, addressing advice to protesters by Rep. Maxine Waters to “stay in the streets” and “get more confrontational.”