Staff Reports
After months of struggling with a negative polling trend, Governor Ron DeSantis has reversed it. His political viability is now apparent.
In November, DeSantis was able to overtake Kamala Harris in a hypothetical presidential election matchup. He had been trailing Harris in several surveys.
Almost half of the respondents said that they would choose DeSantis over Harris, with another 19% undecided. This marks a significant change from the previous versions of the poll, which had shown that she was more popular than DeSantis.
In October, the Harvard/Harris poll showed that Harris had a slight lead over DeSantis in terms of the national popular vote. With 20% undecided, DeSantis would receive 39 percent support, while Harris would get 41.
A similar survey conducted in September showed that Harris received 41% support, with 38% backing for DeSantis. 21% of the respondents were undecided.
In May, a Harris/Harvard poll showed that Harris was the preferred candidate of 41% of the respondents, with 38% supporting for DeSantis, and 20% undecided.
During his re-election campaign, DeSantis worked hard to make Harris an issue of his "impeachment insurance." This was a continuation of his constant criticism of the vice president.
During his speech in Palm Beach County, DeSantis noted that nobody wanted Kamala Harris even if Biden was bad.
The question of who would be the better candidate in a potential presidential election matchup between Biden and DeSantis had been a live survey question since the governor's re-election.
Although the Harvard/Harris survey didn't consistently ask the question about how DeSantis would perform against Biden, it did in November's iteration of the poll, where both Biden and DeSantis received 43% support.
A new survey conducted by Emerson College shows that Biden has a slight lead over DeSantis, with the former receiving 43% support and the latter at 42%. A similar survey conducted by Echelon Insights showed that DeSantis had a four-point lead over Biden.
