Poll: Ron DeSantis in fourth place in 2028 GOP field

Gov. Ron DeSantis may have a tough time in the next presidential race.

That’s a takeaway from a new Echelon Insights survey, which finds the former presidential candidate nearly 30 points behind the 2028 front-runner, Vice President-elect JD Vance.

The Ohio Republican is at 37%, and is the only name listed in double digits in the poll of GOP and GOP-leaning voters.

DeSantis’ 8% is good for fourth place behind two other former 2024 candidates: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running the Department of Government Efficiency with Elon Musk.

Another Florida man isn’t far behind DeSantis.

Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, who DeSantis has to replace in the Senate, is at 5%. Rubio is tied with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

The survey was released Tuesday, as the DeSantis-adjacent RON PAC sent out a fundraising appeal touting support for Donald Trump, who is eligible to serve just one term.

“Trump was just one of many RON PAC-supported candidates who won their elections. We’re proud to have contributed to this year’s victories, especially in some of the tightest races, like Senator-Elect Dave McCormick,” the message reads.

DeSantis was at 14% in another Echelon Insights poll over the Summer. In that survey, Vance was at 25%.

DeSantis’ comments about his future intentions have been all over the place, meanwhile, but he clearly is not closing the door on higher office.

“Oh, I haven’t ruled anything out,” DeSantis said in February, addressing the 2028 question during a call with people who pledged to be his delegates at the GOP Convention.

“We’ll see what the future holds,” DeSantis said to a radio host in Iowa in January, suggesting that he was indeed striving to keep the band together.

“Most of the people that supported me, whether activists, whether volunteers, whether fundraisers, you know, they’re all on board, you know, for what the future holds. So we’ll be active,” DeSantis promised.