Republicans would prefer Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) or former President Donald Trump as the chosen GOP candidate for president in 2024.
A poll from Fox News showed that 43% of voters prefer Trump followed by 28% preferring DeSantis, following a trend that support for DeSantis is losing its strength in a matchup against the former president, who is hoping to reclaim the White House.
DESANTIS APPROVAL SHRINKS IN LATEST GOP PRIMARY POLL
Among GOP voters, men, women, those under and over the age of 45, and those without a college degree rank Trump first and DeSantis second. However, DeSantis remains the favorite among those with a college degree and those who believe Biden was "legitimately elected," a divisive point within the Republican Party.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who hasn't announced his candidacy for 2024, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who announced in early February, tied at 7% in Fox News' poll.
"Currently, the GOP primary dynamics are simple," said Daron Shaw, who conducted the Fox News survey with Chris Anderson. "DeSantis needs Trump to falter because most of the former president's supporters see the Florida governor as the second-best choice."
According to the poll, 42% of Trump supporters would support DeSantis as the Republican nominee.
"At the same time, other candidates need DeSantis to falter because his supporters have no single fallback option and would be up for grabs should he flame out," Shaw added.
In a different poll, DeSantis leads Trump head-to-head when up against the other GOP candidates, 57% to 33%. Across the larger field, DeSantis holds the lead at 40%.
Thirty-four percent of DeSantis supporters would back Trump as the GOP nominee, followed by 27% supporting Haley. Pence does appear to garner much support from followers of Trump or DeSantis.
Only 10% of DeSantis supporters and 23% of Trump supporters stated they would back Pence as the party's nominee.
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On the other side, 37% of Democratic primary voters want to keep Biden as the party's nominee, and 53% hope the Democrats select another candidate in 2024, following a similar trend across other polls over the last few months.
On Jan. 24, more than half of Democrats (58%) wanted Biden to be on the 2024 ballot. However, by Feb. 6, only 37% of Democrats were in favor of Biden pursuing another term. He has yet to formally announce that he is running for reelection but has told multiple outlets that he "intends" to run.