DeSantis leads Biden in Arizona and Georgia, polls find

Polls released Friday from a Republican polling firm showed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) leading President Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup in Georgia and Arizona, two critical swing states.

The polls from Public Opinion Strategies found DeSantis narrowly leading Biden in both states, while the president maintained slight advantages over other potential 2024 opponents, like former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

The Arizona poll, which was conducted May 15-17, found DeSantis leading Biden 47-43 in the state. By comparison, Biden led Trump 46-44 in the state, and the president led Pence 45-43.

The firm’s Georgia poll had DeSantis drawing support from 45 percent of voters, compared to Biden’s 42 percent. But Biden led both Trump and Pence in hypothetical head-to-head matchups, 44-43.

The polls surveyed 500 voters in each state and had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

Public Opinion Strategies, which has a B+ rating on FiveThirtyEight, previously released polls that showed DeSantis leading Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The polls, which focus on two states where Biden narrowly defeated Trump in 2020, underscore what is shaping up to be the Florida governor’s biggest argument as he prepares to launch his 2024 presidential campaign: He is the Republican most likely to defeat Biden.

DeSantis reportedly sought to make that case to donors during a conference call on Thursday organized by Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting him as a presidential candidate.

“You have basically three people at this point that are credible in this whole thing: Biden, Trump and me,” DeSantis said on the call, according to The New York Times. “And I think of those three, two have a chance to get elected president — Biden and me.”

DeSantis is expected to formally enter the 2024 primary field next week, joining Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur  Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), among others.