DeSantis leads Trump in Club for Growth primary polls

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads former President Trump in multiple Club for Growth Action polls ahead of a potential faceoff for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. 

In an Iowa caucus-based survey, 48 percent of 508 respondents said they’ll support DeSantis as the party’s next White House nominee, compared to 37 percent who said they’ll support Trump. 

Sixteen percent of those surveyed in the Iowa caucus poll remain undecided. 

The new poll indicates an 11-point swing for DeSantis among Iowa respondents; 52 percent of those surveyed in a similar Iowa poll published in August backed Trump, while 37 percent voiced support for DeSantis. 

In a New Hampshire primary poll, 52 percent of 401 respondents said they’ll vote for DeSantis, while 37 percent of those surveyed said they’ll support Trump. 

DeSantis’s 15-point lead over Trump comes after they were virtually tied in a similar poll published in August. 

In a head-to-head match-up in DeSantis’s home state, 56 percent of Florida respondents said they’ll vote for the current governor in their primary, while 30 percent support Trump. 

And in a hypothetical primary faceoff in Georgia, 55 percent of respondents said they’ll vote for DeSantis in a GOP primary, while 35 percent of those surveyed will cast their vote for Trump. 

Trump is expected to announce another bid for the White House at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday. 

He recently unleashed verbal attacks against DeSantis, who easily defeated Democratic challenger Charlie Crist in last week’s gubernatorial election, referring to him as an “average governor” and saying that his endorsement helped DeSantis win the state’s gubernatorial election four years ago. 

DeSantis has repeatedly refused to rule out a 2024 bid, even if Trump runs. At his reelection victory party on Tuesday, the crowd loudly chanted, “Two more years.”

The Club for Growth Action polls were conducted from Nov. 11 to Nov. 13 with a total of 1,044 respondents participating in the survey. The poll’s margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.