DeSantis narrowly beats Ramaswamy in initial GOP debate, survey reveals.
A Small Plurality of Republican Voters Declare Ron DeSantis the Winner of First GOP Primary Debate
A poll conducted immediately after the first GOP primary debate revealed that a small plurality of Republican voters who tuned in declared Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as the winner. According to the Washington Post/FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll, approximately 29% of GOP voters who watched the debate believed that DeSantis outperformed the other seven candidates on stage.
Strong Performances by Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley
Following closely behind DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy garnered 26% of likely primary voters who believed he had the best performance. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley secured third place overall with 15% of the voters supporting her. However, the remaining candidates failed to surpass double-digit support, with only 7% favoring former Vice President Mike Pence, and 4% each for former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC). Governor Doug Burgum (R-ND) and former Governor Asa Hutchinson each received only 1% of the votes.
Notably, Haley experienced the most significant improvement in her electoral chances among GOP voters after the debate. Prior to the event, only 29% of voters said they would consider voting for her. However, this number increased to 46% after the debate concluded, putting her in a tie with Ramaswamy.
DeSantis Maintains Strong Lead, Trump’s Support Drops
Despite the strong performances by other candidates, the majority of surveyed voters, 67%, expressed their intention to vote for DeSantis. Former President Donald Trump, who chose not to participate in the debate, closely followed with the support of those who said they would back him. However, the poll revealed that watching the debate had a slight impact on voters’ confidence in Trump as a candidate, with his support dropping from 65% before the debate to 61% after.
DeSantis also emerged with the highest favorability ratings of the night, with 72% of voters holding a positive view of the Florida governor. Haley and Scott came in second with 65%, followed by Ramaswamy with 60%.
Click here to read more from The Washington Examiner
Second Primary Debate Set for September 27
The Wednesday debate provided candidates with an opportunity to distinguish themselves from the crowded field and make gains against Trump, who currently leads as the early front-runner for the GOP nomination. The second primary debate is scheduled to take place on September 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.
The pre-debate Washington Post/FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll surveyed 4,968 voters between August 15 and 22, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points. The post-debate polling was conducted among 775 likely voters after the event concluded on August 23 and 24, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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