Ron DeSantis slumps to new low in North Carolina polling

Image via DeSantis campaign.

Florida’s Governor is struggling in the Tar Heel State, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey.

Ron DeSantis is at 9%, which is the worst showing he’s had in any Presidential Primary poll of North Carolina Republicans. That puts him behind Donald Trump (66%) and Nikki Haley (12%), yet ahead of Vivek Ramaswamy (4%) and Chris Christie (3%).

While the Governor is at 10% with female voters, he’s struggling with men: his 7% with his own gender ties him with Ramaswamy. However, DeSantis is in second place with the few non-binary voters polled, with 17% of that cohort backing him.

Despite being in single digits overall, DeSantis is above water in terms of approval, with 50% of women and 60% of men liking the Governor. Overall, he has 56% approval against 28% disapproval.

While North Carolina apportions its 75 delegates proportionally after its March Primary, the current trend suggests Trump will get the majority of them, with other candidates battling for scraps.

Other polls corroborate this survey’s findings.

DeSantis is in third place with 10% support in a December survey from East Carolina University’s (ECU) Center for Survey Research.

In an early November Meredith College survey of 355 registered voters, DeSantis had 14% support, good for second place then, yet 37 points behind Trump.

The Governor has been endorsed by 19 public officials in the state. State Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger Jr. is on board, as are state Sens. Danny Britt, Jim Burgin and Bobby Hanig. State Reps. Jennifer Balkcom, Allen Chesser, Kevin Crutchfield, Kenneth Fontenot, Keith Kidwell, Jarrod Lowery, Jeff McNeely, Dennis Riddell, Steve Ross, Jason Saine, Wayne Sasser, Sam Watford, David Willis and Matthew Winslow are also endorsing.

DeSantis has traveled to the state this cycle, even addressing local issues, though that doesn’t seem to have helped him in polls.

During his most recent appearance in North Carolina, the Governor made news by vowing to restore “the name of Fort Bragg to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina.”

“And thank the people that have served there. And they’re proud of their service there. It’s an iconic name and iconic base. We’re not going to let political correctness run amok in North Carolina,” DeSantis said to cheers.

Fort Bragg was renamed “Fort Liberty” on the recommendation of the Department of Defense’s Commission on the Naming of Items. The goal was to change names of facilities “that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.”