HE’S De FRONT RONNER
24 pts. over Don
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comes out on top of a hypothetical nine-person GOP primary field — and defeats former President Donald Trump by 24 percentage points in a head-to-head matchup, according to a new poll.
The WPA Intelligence survey released Wednesday found 40% of Republican primary voters nationwide call DeSantis their top choice to win the party’s 2024 White House nod.
Just 31% call Trump their top pick, with no other GOP figure hitting double digits.
The margin widened when voters were asked to choose between the two, with 57% going for DeSantis and 33% picking Trump.
“President Trump is still liked by most Republicans, but our primary voters are pragmatic,” WPA Intelligence founder and CEO Chris Wilson told The Post. “They like his policies but feel the party needs a new face and leader.”
Of the other names mentioned in the poll, former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was the favorite for 8% of Republican voters, tied with former Vice President Mike Pence.
Haley and Trump are the only two named in the poll to have formally announced they will seek the Republican nomination, with DeSantis and others expected to join the fray later this year.
Multimillionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who announced his presidential campaign on Tuesday, was not included in the poll, which was in the field before his announcement.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was the main choice for 5% of GOP voters, followed by ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (2%), Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida (1%), ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (1%) and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (less than 1%).
Nearly threequarters of Republican voters (73%) said DeSantis was one of their top three choices, while 52% put Trump in their top three. Approximately one-third of voters ranked Pence and Haley in their top three.
“Gov. DeSantis is showing GOP primary voters that you can lead as an effective conservative governor and win by big margins,” Wilson said. “Most of us remember when Florida was the textbook definition of a swing state — and he just won it by nearly 20 points with the support of a majority of non-Cuban Latinos.
“His mix of conservative policies and effective political leadership makes him a very appealing candidate to Republican primary voters.”
The poll was released the same day that the Republican National Committee voted to host its first presidential debate in Milwaukee in August.
On Tuesday, an Echelon Insights poll showed DeSantis leading Trump in the battleground state of Michigan and winning over key voter demographics in the process.