DeSantis clings to slight edge against Trump in Florida: Poll

According to a recent Mason-Dixon poll, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is ahead of former President Donald Trump in the hypothetical matchup of potential candidates in Florida. The margin is slim, with DeSantis receiving 44% to Trump’s 39% of the vote, while 12% of voters remain undecided and 5% would opt for another candidate.

The poll offers a bright spot for DeSantis as his chief rival gains momentum nationwide. Florida has an enormous 125 delegates out of the 2,467 total delegates up for grabs in the Republican primary calendar. If a primary contest takes place between DeSantis and Trump, Florida could be a critical state for the outcome.

The poll also shows that DeSantis has significantly higher favorability metrics among Republicans than Trump. DeSantis has an approval rating of 87%, while Trump’s rating is 71%. Among the general electorate, DeSantis is favored by 53%, while only 36% hold an unfavorable view of him. In contrast, Trump’s approval is 39% favorable to 50% unfavorable, and President Joe Biden has an approval rating of 33% favorable to 54% unfavorable, respectively.

The Mason-Dixon poll was conducted from March 27 to March 30, where 625 registered voters were surveyed via telephone for the general bloc and 507 Republicans were included in the poll. A margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points was reported for both subsets.

Despite trailing DeSantis in the poll, Trump remains the GOP front-runner, with DeSantis coming in second in a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate. Several surveys in early primary states demonstrate a competitive matchup between DeSantis and Trump; however, the former president’s lead tends to grow when other hopefuls for 2024 are included.

DeSantis is anticipated to announce his decision on whether he would run for the presidency in 2024 or not in May, after the Florida state legislature concludes its business.