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Tags: poll | donald trump | ron desantis | gop | primary | 2024 election | florida

Emerson Fla. Poll: Trump, DeSantis in Dead Heat

By    |   Friday, 17 March 2023 09:08 AM EDT

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.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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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.
poll, donald trump, ron desantis, gop, primary, 2024 election, florida
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2023-08-17
Friday, 17 March 2023 09:08 AM
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