Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) dominate in hypothetical 2024 scenarios, an Emerson College survey released this week found.
An overwhelming majority of Republican voters, 67 percent, said they would vote for Trump in a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is the only other candidate who saw double-digit support, garnering ten percent. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley came in third with seven percent support, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence (6 percent).
However, when Trump is taken out of the scenario, DeSantis takes the lead, garnering 32 percent support. Pence came in second with 24 percent, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (13 percent) and Haley (10 percent). Both Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) garnered six percent support each in a Trumpless field.
President Donald Trump stands behind Ron DeSantis, Candidate for Governor of Florida, as he speaks at a rally, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, in Pensacola, Fla. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
The national survey, taken August 30 to September 1, 2021, among 395 registered voters, has a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent.
“Historically, this data reminds me of 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt failed to win the Republican nomination from then President Taft and created a third party dooming the Republican chances against Woodrow Wilson,” Spencer Kimball, Director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement.
“This data suggests that Republicans want either Trump or a Trumpian candidate to be their nominee, or half of them may split from the party,” he added.
Neither Trump nor DeSantis has definitively indicated if they plan to run in 2024.