DeSantis easily defeats Rubio, Scott in hypothetical presidential primary: poll

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) outpolls two of his state’s other high-profile Republicans, Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, by a wide margin as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, according to a survey by GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio.

Between the three, DeSantis gets 64 percent to Rubio’s 12 percent and Scott’s 10 percent, according to the survey, shared with Politico.

Although DeSantis led the field the last time Fabrizio conducted a poll in which the three were options, he led Rubio by only 11 points in July, according to Politico.

“In order to run for president, you need to have your home state, you need your home base. And DeSantis clearly has that,” Fabrizio, who worked as a pollster for former President Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, told Politico.

DeSantis, who won the 2018 GOP primary for governor after Trump endorsed him, has continued to publicly back the former president, including last year during the pandemic when some other Republican governors broke with the president on coronavirus precautions.

The poll also found that Florida Republicans continue to see DeSantis as the biggest Trump supporter of the three, at 67 percent to Scott’s 9 percent and Rubio’s 7 percent.

“Given the attention in the state to Scott’s and Rubio’s positions and votes on the outcome of the election, it’s kind of startling to see DeSantis, by an even wider margin, is perceived as Trump’s biggest supporter of the three,” Fabrizio told the publication.

Scott was one of a handful of senators to vote against certifying President Biden’s Electoral College victory in Pennsylvania in January. Rubio, meanwhile, has a generally conservative voting record but is viewed with suspicion by many Trump backers due to his backing of both the results of the election and a 2013 immigration reform bill.

None of the three have said they will run for president in 2024. Rubio is up for reelection to his seat in 2022, while Scott and DeSantis are up for reelection in 2024.