While conservative media may enthuse about Gov. Ron DeSantis as a potential presidential candidate, Florida voters aren’t sold.
That’s the finding in fresh polling from Quinnipiac University, which says more Floridians believe the man they call “America’s Governor” should focus on his day job rather than White House apirations.
“Do Florida voters want to send DeSantis back to Tallahassee? It’s a tossup. But 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is, for now, just not in the cards,” asserted a spokesperson in a press release revealing the findings.
Of the 833 registered voters surveyed, in what was an R+2 poll, 59% do not want DeSantis to run for President. Only 35% back the concept.
Not even all Republicans want to see it. While 67% are open to a President DeSantis, a full 24% aren’t in. A full 61% of independent voters are opposed, also, with just 35% backing a DeSantis 2024 run.
As one would expect, Democrats almost uniformly don’t want him to run for President, though 2% of those surveyed from the opposing party support the idea.
Bookies and prediction markets alike have waved caution flags, as COVID-19 has bedeviled both messaging and policy from the DeSantis administration.
“Billed as a rising star in the GOP, DeSantis also faces a difficult battle in the presidential election, as he’s behind Donald Trump in both presidential and Republican nomination markets,” commented a spokesperson from betting aggregators US-Bookies.com, earlier in August.
DeSantis is dropping on the list of 2024 candidates. He’s given just an 18% chance of getting the Republican nomination, and just a 10% chance of being elected President.
The aggregators aren’t even contemplating action on who DeSantis’ 2024 running mate might be, though the Governor is the most favored of four potential running mates for Trump.
“Though DeSantis’ chances at winning the next presidential election aren’t strong at the moment, it does seem like he’ll be the most likely pick as Trump’s running mate,” a US-Bookies spokesperson said. “With 14-1 odds, a Trump-DeSantis (ticket) is currently the most likely Republican ticket we’ll see in 2021.”
This article was first published by Florida Politics.
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