But now the Florida governor and presidential candidate is looking at the possibility of finishing in third place, behind both Trump and Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and former U.N. ambassador.
A Suffolk University poll released on Thursday of 500 Iowa residents shows Trump with 54% of the vote, with Haley at 20% and DeSantis at 13%.
Two other recent polls show Haley and DeSantis tied for second place: An Insider Advantage poll released Friday of 850 likely voters has Trump at 51% and Haley and DeSantis at 17%.
And an Iowa St./Civiqs survey released on Thursday of 1,128 registered Iowa voters has Trump at 55%, with Haley and DeSantis tied at 14%.
DeSantis has put all his chips into winning – or at least doing significantly well – in Iowa. He’s the only candidate to appear in all 99 counties, and has won the endorsement of Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
But if the polling holds up and DeSantis finishes third, it will be a big blow to his already dwindling opportunities to become the GOP presidential nominee in 2024.
The New Hampshire primary follows Iowa on Jan 23. And the numbers look even worse for the governor, where he even trails a candidate no longer in the race.
A Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll based on online surveys of 1194 New Hampshire GOP likely voters shows Donald Trump leading with 45%. Haley is second with 31%. Chris Christie, who suspended his campaign earlier this week, is in third with 9%, and DeSantis is tied for fourth with Vivek Ramaswamy at just 6%. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
This article appears in Jan 11-17, 2024.