New polling suggests it’s time for Pennsylvania’s Republican primary voters to put some serious thought into the GOP actually winning a statewide election in Pennsylvania — a feat President Trump accomplished in 2016, but failed to repeat in 2020. A raft of recent polling nationally and in Pennsylvania suggests voters would likely favor Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over a second Biden term — with Trump consistently polling behind Biden in crucial swing states.
The McClatchy DC poll found that former President Donald Trump trails Biden by a thin margin, both in Pennsylvania and formerly ruby-red Arizona.
The poll, conducted and released this month by the GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies, was meant to gauge the viability of likely presidential candidates in the 2024 general election. In Pennsylvania, the poll has DeSantis leading Biden by 45 percent to 42 percent, while Trump trailed Biden at 42 percent to 46 percent — margins that Republican primary voters in Pennsylvania can ill-afford to ignore.
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In formerly ruby-red Arizona, the results of the poll were the same: the survey found DeSantis leading Biden 48–42. Trump trails Biden among Arizona voters, 44–55. Arizona, a former Republican stronghold, trended heavily Democratic while President Trump was in office, and in 2022 elected a Democratic Senator and Democratic governor for the first time in generations.
Similar surveys have found Florida’s governor leading Biden in critical blue-trending swing states Wisconsin and Nevada, with Trump similarly trailing Biden in the same match-up.
President Trump shocked Pennsylvania’s political world in 2016 by flipping Pennsylvania red for the first time since 1988. Independent voters, women, and suburban voters quickly soured on the former President while in office, and he was not able to accomplish the feat again in 2020, losing to now-President Biden in the Keystone State by 80,000 votes — mostly due to shifts in Philadelphia’s vote-rich suburbs.
In 2022, Trump-endorsed candidates Doug Mastriano and Mehmet Oz failed in their bids for Pa. Governor and U.S. Senate, respectively, delivering a loss to Pennsylvania Republicans. Republicans failed to flip a single U.S. House seat, and lost the state house to Democrats for the first time in a decade.
DeSantis, who is widely-expected to announce his candidacy for President after Florida’s state legislature session ends in May, seems to be the most likely Republican to successfully take on Trump in a Republican primary. Other announced candidates, such as former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, have not yet cracked double-digits in most national polls of Republican voters.
With a long way to go until the first Republican primaries and caucuses in 2024, voters can expect daily polling updates to track the candidates — and may be well aware of a tough fight with incumbent President Biden up ahead.
Broad + Liberty is a nonprofit media endeavor dedicated to sharing voices and stories that are shut out of other media outlets. @broadandliberty
in the Republican Party rino’s is this possible. They are trying to select the candidate again. Didn’t work with Kasich and won’t work again. We have the ability to think for ourselves, understand what Trump did for all of us and look forward to putting him in office again. This specifically goes out to you Lohman Henry.
Kasich?
Wait. Wait. Wait. You are annoyed because the Republicam party leadership wanted to coordinate behind one candidate? You mean, like, an endorsement of a candidate who could win in the general?
Sunny – please look at the last few years of a neutered party leadership and the results after the General. You supporting the most extreme candidates does not do anything but further fulfil the progressive agenda.
Can’t argue with the results. Please, in the end, support a candidate who can actually win.
RINOs want nothing to do with DeSantis. He is a proven leader who has managed to succeed against CRT, transgender radicalism, and promote a vibrant economy. Now, if Trump is the candidate, I will vote for him. But I would greatly prefer DeSantis, as he can get the job done without superfluous rhetoric.
Unlikely, RDS could never turn out the T. Not enough country club type Rs left to offset that. I suspect poll over sampled suburban chamber of commerce-type Rs.
Call DeSantis what you want. He gets the job done. If defeating CRT is what a country club Republican does, then maybe we should all be coutnry club Republicans.
It isn’t accurate or fair to refer to DeSantis as a country club republican. Rather, he is a proven leader who can get things done and he has demonstrably pushed back against the “progressive” agenda in Florida. The progs are hoping that the Republicans splinter on this contest between Trump and DeSantis and will reap fhe benefits and to the detriment of the country. Move past the very compromised figure of Trump and get behind DeSantis.
DeSantis will announce soon and win over Trump and then beat Biden,