Former President Donald Trump continues to crush the competition, but political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy is swiftly rising in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, according to a new Morning Consult poll.
Trump is polling at 56 percent, distantly followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, at 17 percent, according to the poll of more than 3,600 potential Republican primary voters. The survey was conducted July 7-9, and has an unweighted margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
While DeSantis isn’t gaining any traction, Ohio biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is. The anti-woke crusader is polling at 8 percent, good for a third-place showing among GOP presidential nominee contestants. Ramaswamy has overtaken former Vice President Mike Pence, now polling at 7 percent.
8% of potential Republican primary voters would vote for Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy if the 2024 presidential nominating contest were held in their state today, overtaking former Vice President Mike Pence for third place.
View more insights: https://t.co/zpObC29Slh pic.twitter.com/Y26FcxX6ru
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) July 12, 2023
In a three-way tie for fifth are former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina U.S. Senator Tim Scott, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, each polling at 3 percent.
DeSantis, according to the poll, has hit a rough spot. His latest showing matches an all-time low since Morning Consult began tracking the race in early December.
The Florida governor also is losing ground to President Joe Biden, according to the pollsters.
“DeSantis trails Biden by 5 percentage points in a hypothetical general election match-up, and hasn’t outperformed the incumbent since March. Trump trails Biden by 1 point, down from a 3-point lead late last month,” the Morning Consult Takeaways note.
Meanwhile, Christie is widely disliked among GOP voters. The Trump hater “has an enormous popularity disadvantage.” Nearly half of potential GOP primary voters (46 percent) hold an unfavorable view of the ex-governor, with 26 percent viewing him favorably, according to the poll.
Ramaswamy’s political fortunes, meanwhile, continue to improve. An Echelon Insights poll released last week also showed the millennial presidential contestant (10 percent) running in third place. That same poll showed eroding support for DeSantis (16 percent). Former President Donald Trump was at 49 percent.
“I’m rising quickly,” Ramaswamy told The Iowa Star earlier this week at the Iowa State Capitol. “We’re going to be here in Iowa a lot.”
He has made the Hawkeye State a kind of second home since launching his bid for the White House in early February. Ramaswamy is back in the first-in-the-nation caucus state again for two events on Friday, including the nationally watched Family Leadership Summit in suburban Des Moines.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Ron DeSantis” by Ron DeSantis. Photo “Vivek Ramaswamy” by Vivek Ramaswamy.
