DeSantis, Ramaswamy ‘performed best’ at debate: GOP poll

In a Washington Post, Ipsos and FiveThirtyEight poll of potential Republican voters who watched Wednesday’s GOP debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy came out on top.

The poll showed 29 and 26 percent of the potential voters thought DeSantis and Ramaswamy “performed best,” respectively. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley lagged behind the two frontrunners at 15 percent. The rest of the candidates at the debate saw less than 10 percent back them as debate winners.

“DeSantis was already well-known and popular among Republicans ahead of the debate, with most having a favorable opinion of him and just 6 percent having no opinion of the governor — but Ramaswamy was far less known by debate watchers, with almost 4 in 10 saying they hadn’t heard of him or had no opinion of him,” the Post’s article on the poll read. 

Other findings from the poll included a drop in those who say they are “considering voting” for former President Donald Trump as GOP nominee following the debate, from 66 to 61 percent. DeSantis received a slight bump in possible voting support as GOP nominee in the wake of the debate, from 62 to 67 percent. 

The poll, conducted between Aug. 23-24, was taken of “775 potential Republican primary or caucus voters who watched the Aug. 23 debate,” according to the Post. The margin of error was 4 percentage points.