Forty-seven percent of Florida's Republican voters say they would cast their ballot for former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical GOP presidential primary, while 44% say they would vote for the state's Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a new Emerson College poll.
No other candidate surpassed 4% in the poll.
Here are how the poll results, released on Friday, break down:
- 4% said they would vote for former Vice President Mike Pence.
- 2% say they would cast their ballot for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
- 1% say they would vote for Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
- 1% say they would vote for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
- 44% of Florida voters say they vote for Trump in a general election matchup with President Joe Biden, who is backed by another 44%.
- 46% say they would vote fort DeSantis in a general election matchup with Biden, who is backed by 43%.
- 51% of all voters say they approve of the job DeSantis is doing as governor, while 42% disapprove.
Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling said, "Nearly one year out from the Florida Presidential Primary, DeSantis and Trump are in a two-way race for the Republican nomination, statistically even with one another."
Here are other highlights from the poll.
- 79% say they would vote for Trump in a race among announced candidates, compared to 16% for Haley and 6% for entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
- 26% of all Florida voters say the economy is the top issue, with housing affordability coming in second with 14%.
The poll, conducted March 13-15, sampled 1,153 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.