Despite COVID19, the extremely irregular 2020 Election beset by by charges of fraud and the backlash against Conservatives rippling through the liberal coasts, a Republican is surging in the polls. Under the warm Florida sun, the political prospects and approval ratings of GOP front-runner Governor Ron DeSantis have begun to Skyrocket.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports,
“The Mason-Dixon survey found that 53% of Florida voters approve of the governor’s job performance. That’s still well below the 62% approval rating DeSantis had two years ago, but it’s a big improvement from the 45% of voters who approved of the governor’s performance in July.
The poll also has DeSantis leading in head-to-head matchups with two potential Democratic rivals in the 2022 governor’s race, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist. DeSantis leads Fried 51% to 42% in the poll and is up on Crist 52% to 41%, with the rest undecided.”
“When matched up against his two best-known potential Democratic challengers in next year’s gubernatorial race, DeSantis currently holds comfortable leads,” according to the polling memo.
CPAC2021 Only Helped Front-Runner DeSantis
The mainstream media is only starting to settle down from the whirlwind CPAC2021 which saw the triumphant return of President Trump. Not only did Trump return in his first appearance since leaving office but affirmed he will not be launching a new party and teased but wouldn’t confirm a 2024 run for the White House.
The annual conference served to reinforce that the establishment GOP will not be shoving the MAGA movement or the President aside so easily. All of this only helped the extremely pro-Trump Florida Governor. DeSantis would have tangentially benefitted just from having CPAC in his backyard (a huge win by itself) but according to First Coast News,
“In another CPAC straw poll, 55 percent of people polled picked former President Donald Trump to vote for should he run in the 2024 election. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came in second with 21 percent. ”
https://twitter.com/CPAC/status/1366122798826065922
This could make Governor DeSantis the presumptive front-runner of the MAGA movement and the America First agenda. The next contenders were South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem with 4% and Fmr. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley with 3%, Fmr. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul tied for 5th at 2%.
However, one unknown remains: Donald Trump, Jr. did not appear on the CPAC2021 straw poll… An @Politics_Polls twitter poll conducted in December gave Trump, Jr. 3rd position behind his father and former Vice President Mike Pence. Pence is largely considered no longer a viable GOP candidate after January 6th.
Who will it be if Donald J. Trump steps back and doesn’t run in 2024? The CPAC presumptive front-runner DeSantis? Or President Trump’s heir-apparent? Only time will tell.
But surely many are scratching their heads wondering: Why wasn’t Trump, Jr. on the CPAC straw poll?
2024 National Republican Primary:
Trump 35%
Pence 19%
Trump Jr. 11%
Haley 7%
Cruz 6%
Rubio 4%
Ivanka Trump 2%
Tim Scott 2%
Sasse 2%
Carlson 2%
Cotton 1%
Hawley 1%@SevenLetter 11/10-19 https://t.co/NS0iSFUTmN— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) December 4, 2020
