Ron DeSantis hits new low in California polling, falls to 6%

Leaders of the Ron DeSantis campaign say their operation is built for the long haul, but DeSantis is currently out of the running in one key state: California.

According to the Emerson College Poll conducted Jan. 11-14, he would have been at fourth place in the race with 6% support; however, since the exit of Vivek Ramaswamy, who had 7%, he’s in third.

Donald Trump leads the field with 62%, with 10% supporting Nikki Haley.

This poll is the latest to show declining interest in DeSantis’ candidacy in the Golden State, which is especially interesting given the debate he had with Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, the culmination of rhetorical attacks against the state.

In the University of California Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey conducted Jan. 4-8, the Florida Governor had 8% support.

With 169 delegates at stake in a winner-take-all format, there appears to be little drama as to how this contest will go.

The Governor was in California earlier this fall for a presidential debate, where he also made some other news, including being condemned by the Salinas City Council ahead of a fundraising event in the city.

On a trip to the Port of Long Beach, DeSantis was flanked by truck drivers as he vowed to “take action” against California’s “electric mandates for big rigs.”

DeSantis has also used California as a public safety punching bag on the trail, both in the state and outside of it.

“When people are telling me that when they go shopping, they take off their jewelry because they don’t want to get mugged, even in nice places in L.A., that’s a huge, huge problem,” DeSantis said in Long Beach.

“I was just in San Francisco. I saw — in 20 minutes on the ground — people defecating on the sidewalk. I saw people using fentanyl. I saw people smoking crack right there in the open, right there on the street. It was a civilization in decay,” the Governor said at a Faith & Freedom Coalition event in June.