Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has dropped to third place in the Republican primary race, Cygnal’s August poll, released this week, found.
The survey, fielded in early August, shows former President Donald Trump dominating the GOP primary field with majority support from 53.3 percent of likely voters. While DeSantis has remained in second place in the vast majority of surveys since jumping into the presidential race in late May, that is not the case in this particular survey, as anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy edges him out with 11.4 percent support, pushing DeSantis, who garners 10.4 percent support, to third place.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, recently labeled “Liddle Mike Pence” by Trump after he suggested that Trump asked him to put him “above the Constitution,” falls to fourth place with 6.6 percent support, followed by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott with 3.2 percent support.
No other candidate sees above three percent support, as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley comes in sixth place with 2.8 percent support, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comes in seventh with 2.1 percent support.
The remainder see less than one percent support.
2024 National Republican Primary
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) August 10, 2023
Trump 53% (+1 from May)
Ramaswamy 11% (+6)
DeSantis 10% (-11)
Pence 6% (+2)
Scott 3% (+1)
Haley 3% (-2)
Christie 2%
Suarez 1%@cygnal (A) | LVs | August 1-3https://t.co/FWWoX5v5E5 pic.twitter.com/rpdDEwInvG
Notably, the survey finds Trump leading the field among all demographics listed, including swing voters, garnering 31 percent in the crowded field. Ramaswamy follows with 18 percent, placing DeSantis in third yet again, with ten percent support.
The overall survey was taken August 1-3, 2023, among 2,000 likely general election voters and has a ± 2.16 percent margin of error.
DeSantis’s descent comes as he revamps his campaign yet again, not only laying off dozens of staffers last month but replacing his former campaign manager, Generra Peck, with James Uthmeier. Still, DeSantis has struggled to make significant progress — if any at all — in both state and national surveys.
A recent New Hampshire poll told a similar story of DeSantis’s decline, showing Trump opening with a 34-point lead and DeSantis dropping to single digits, tying for second place with Christie at nine percent support each.
“He’s crashing badly,” Trump said of DeSantis during an interview with Breitbart News’s Matthew Boyle last month.
“He’s got no personality,” Trump said when asked what was wrong with the governor’s campaign. “He just has no personality.”
Trump correctly predicted during that interview that DeSantis would not maintain second place in the GOP primary race much longer.
“I don’t think he’s going to be second very long. It looks like he’s being superseded by others or getting very close,” Trump said at the time.
