Ramaswamy ticks up in GOP primary against Trump, DeSantis: poll

Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is seeing his support tick up in the Republican presidential primary against former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released Monday.

When respondents were asked whom they would vote for if the GOP presidential primary were today, 52 percent said Trump, 12 percent said DeSantis and 10 percent said Ramaswamy. 

Trump lost 7 percentage points and Ramaswamy gained 8 points compared to the most recent survey before Monday.

When respondents were asked whom they would vote for in the GOP primary if Trump decided not to run, DeSantis sat at 29 percent — a decrease of 12 points from the previous survey — while Ramaswamy stood at 19 percent, an increase of 12 points. Former Vice President Mike Pence received 13 percent.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey suggests Ramaswamy may be getting a second look from voters as DeSantis looks to revamp his campaign. The Florida governor has so far struggled to make inroads in polling against Trump.

“One of the biggest surprises in the poll is how Ramaswamy has risen in the polls with DeSantis who continues to lose support to the growing field. Last time a lot of Republicans had mini surges, so this is not unusual for new entrants — the test will be whether he can go any further in the next two months or someone like Tim Scott will surge next,” said Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey was conducted July 19-20 and surveyed 2,068 registered voters. It is a collaboration with the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll.

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.