Gov. Ron DeSantis arguably had his best performance in a national debate this week, with a widely viewed showdown with California's Gavin Newsom the week before. But new polling suggests it might not matter.
In the latest Emerson College poll, the Florida Governor has fallen to 7%, his worst showing in any national survey in the 2024 cycle. Adding insult to injury, DeSantis is actually at 6.7%, benefiting from rounding to even hit the modest 7% threshold.
DeSantis trails Nikki Haley, who has double his support at 14%. And as usual, former President Donald Trump leads all candidates, with 64%.
If there's any positive spin for DeSantis out of this survey, it's that he still leads Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie, who each have 4% support.
The Emerson analysis spotlights the youth vote as being particularly unfriendly for DeSantis: "Among Republicans under 30, Trump's support is higher than the average at 73%, while 6% support Ramaswamy, 5% support DeSantis, and 3% Haley and Christie respectively."
Pollster Spencer Kimball notes that as "younger Democrats distance themselves from (Joe) Biden, Trump's formidable backing within the Republican primary is strongest among younger voters."
Emerson didn't even bother testing a Trump-DeSantis head-to-head election in this survey, though the pollster did run a trial heat between Trump and Haley. As is typical of these hypotheticals, the former President dominated, with 77% support.
DeSantis led off the debate in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday by declaring he's "sick of hearing about these polls." And this result from Emerson, which was in the field on the day of that debate, likely won't change his disposition to surveys.
The Race to the White House national average reflects the DeSantis decline. Trump is at 60%, with DeSantis at 12% and Haley at 10%. The Florida Governor is betting heavily on Iowa, which holds its caucuses Jan. 15, to give him some momentum going forward. What's clear is that he needs a boost from somewhere.
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