(DCWatchdog.com) – Deemed a viable rival to Donald Trump until recently, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis is now practically out of the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, as a new poll has placed him tied for the third spot with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The latest Rasmussen poll published on Tuesday reveals a dominant lead for former President Donald Trump, with 51% of respondents indicating they would vote for him if the GOP presidential primary were held today.
Following Trump, former South Carolina Governor and US Ambassador to the UN during Trump’s tenure, Nikki Haley, garnered 13%.
DeSantis and Christie are both at 9%, while Vivek Ramaswamy received 1% of the support.
The poll cited by Newsmax also found that 16% of respondents were undecided.
This survey, involving 792 likely Republican primary voters, was conducted between December 19-21. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points and a 95% confidence level.
A previous Rasmussen poll in February showed DeSantis with 20% support, trailing Trump, who had 47%.
However, since DeSantis announced his intention to run for the 2024 GOP nomination in May, his support among Republicans has been on a downward trajectory.
In November, 50% of GOP primary voters supported Trump, according to Rasmussen.
Both Haley and Christie have seen an increase in support since then, while DeSantis’ numbers have decreased.
Trump is leading significantly in the FiveThirtyEight average of polling at 62.4%, with DeSantis at 11.7% and Haley at 10.9%.
DeSantis is actively campaigning in Iowa for the January 15 caucus, which initiates the GOP primary season.
Despite trailing Trump significantly in Iowa, as shown by FiveThirtyEight’s polling average, he aims to achieve a substantial upset to revitalize his campaign.
In terms of demographic support, the 45th president of the United States is more popular among men (55%) than women (48%) in the GOP primary.
The latest Rasmussen poll also shows that he is the favored candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination among voters over 40.
At the same time, among those under 40, Trump leads with 38%, followed by DeSantis at 20% and Haley at 11%.
