Zinger Key Points
- Trump's offensive against DeSantis and the latter's lack of response have worked in favor of the ex-president.
- In a head-to-head match up with Biden, DeSantis has about the same favorability rating.
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Recent polls suggest that former President Donald Trump has built a lead in the Republican presidential primary race, and the latest Quinnipiac University poll appears to confirm voters' preference.
What Happened: About 46% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters support Trump, compared to 32% who favor Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Quinnipiac National Poll found. The figures are an improvement for Trump, who led DeSantis by a 42%-36% margin last month.
While Trump officially announced his candidacy in November, DeSantis has yet to confirm his intention to run.
On the other hand, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who also threw her hat into the ring, managed to get the support of only 5% of respondents. None of the remaining 12 declared or potential candidates received over 3% of the votes.
"DeSantis might be the buzz in the GOP conversation, but for now Trump is seeing no erosion and, in fact, enjoys a bump in his lead in the Republican primary," polling analyst Tim Malloy noted.
In a hypothetical head-to-head match-up, Trump would receive 51% of the votes and DeSantis 40%, according to the poll.
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Why It’s Important: Amid the momentum DeSantis received following his landslide win in the Florida gubernatorial election, Trump went on the offensive against the governor in late January, the New York Times noted.
DeSantis, who hasn't responded to the former president in kind, has since slowly lost support among voters.
Quinnipiac's March poll found that DeSantis and Trump have a favorability rating of 36% each, although Trump’s unfavorability rating of 58% was higher than DeSantis' 52%. What could potentially tilt the balance in favor of DeSantis is the remaining 23% of those polled, who said they haven’t heard enough about the governor yet. If they decide to back DeSantis, the governor's favorability rating would exceed Trump’s.
Biden Over Trump? The Quinnipiac University’s poll of registered voters, irrespective of party leanings, found that President Joe Biden would receive 49% of the votes in a hypothetical matchup against Trump.
If Biden were to run against DeSantis, however, the poll's results suggest that the race could be neck and neck: Biden would receive 47% compared to 46% for DeSantis.
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