The tides appear to be changing in the Republican party after several candidates backed by former President Donald Trump failed to win their elections in the 2022 midterms, which could be a sign his influence is dwindling.
A new poll from YouGov has found that those in the party now back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 7-points more than they do Trump when it comes to who they would like to have receive the party's nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
The poll is the first survey of the 2024 cycle to show that another candidate is favored more than Trump. It is also the first since February 2016 to do so, when Trump was behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal primary poll.
Released on Friday, the survey found that 42% of Republicans and right-leaning independents prefer to see DeSantis over Trump as the party’s candidate in 2024. Meanwhile, 35% of those surveyed selected Trump, 10% said neither, and 13% said not sure.
The numbers are the opposite of what the pollsters found three weeks before the midterm election when it asked respondents a similar question, and 45% selected Trump while 35% chose DeSantis.
But after the Republicans failed to gain control of the Senate, and the red wave was nothing more than a pink splash, Trump’s influence appears to be dipping.
The poll was conducted in the days after the election, from Nov. 9-11. It included responses from 1,500 Americans, which included 413 self-identified Republicans. There is a margin of error of plus or minus three points.
Related
Related
