DeSantis gains ground on Trump as 2024 GOP favorite in several statewide polls
WASHINGTON (TND) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has begun overshadowing former President Donald Trump in several statewide polls.
Polling conducted last month by theBerkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that DeSantis led Trump by eight points among registered Republicans in California.
Similarly, polling from Pennsylvania-basedSusquehanna Polling and Research found DeSantis to be in the lead among Pennsylvania Republicans, while the conservative Club for Growthshowed DeSantis ahead of Trump among GOP voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.
However, Trump still leads in the state of Virginia, where voters last year elected a Republican to be the state's next governor.
Additionally, nationwide polling from Morning Consultshowed GOP primary voters overwhelmingly preferred Trump as of Feb. 25.
Nationwide polling conducted by Club for Growth showed Trump leading DeSantis in a seven-person primary poll, but in a head-to-head matchup, DeSantis overtook the former president.
"What the club believes the Republican Party should do is make sure whoever we nominate will actually win," Club for Growth President David McIntosh told The Hill. "The party should be open to looking at a different candidate. DeSantis is in the strongest position."
Third place is equally up for grabs. Based on polling results, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin andformer Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney are all vying for that spot.
In several statewide polls, Haley appears to be in the best position, however.
She is far behind Trump and DeSantis but came in as voters' third favorite candidate in California and Pennsylvania.
However, both polling from Virginia and nationwide polling puts Haley behind Pence and Youngkin, respectively.
Republicans are currently convening outside of the nation's capital at the party's annual conservative conference, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). But some of the GOP's leading candidates for 2024, including DeSantis, will be noticeably absent.
Both DeSantis and Pence will not be attending, but Trump will once again be the conference's keynote speaker, concluding the event on Saturday. Haley spoke Friday.
Instead of CPAC, the two GOP frontrunners will be heading to a Club for Growth annual fundraiser. Haley will be there as well.
"It's a missed opportunity for any potential Presidential Candidate to not address the thousands of grassroots activists at CPAC this year," a CPAC spokesperson told Newsweek. "Luckily, CPAC attendees will get to hear from every announced Presidential candidate and over 100 premiere speakers, including over 30 elected officials."