New Poll Shows Potential GOP Challenger Narrowing the Gap on Trump In Key Battleground State

Michigan voters are beginning to favor Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) at nearly the same rate as former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, according to a new poll — out just weeks ahead of this year’s August primaries.

The WDIV/Detroit News survey asked likely Republican primary voters if they’d support Trump for another White House run — along with how he would match up against DeSantis.

The poll found that 45.2 percent of GOP primary voters support the former president’s nomination again in 2024.

DeSantis has gained considerable traction with Republican voters in the 2024 GOP nomination contest and is considered the frontrunner if Trump decides not to run for reelection, per The Hill.

However, even if Trump does decide to run, the race for the nomination appears to be tightening with DeSantis beating Trump amongst Florida Republicans and the Florida governor closing the gap amongst voters in Iowa — the first stop on the presidential campaign — according to a survey reportedly conducted by “Blueprint Polling.”

Meanwhile, DeSantis is backed up by 41.6 percent of Republican state voters, representing only a 3.6 percentage point gap between the two. That difference falls within the 4.4 percent margin of error for the poll, making the two potential candidates dead even.

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The poll also discovered that 64 percent of Republicans support Trump running for reelection and 59.2 percent of Michigan Republicans side with Trump over state senate leaders — regarding 2020 election fraud investigations.

Even if Trump does decide to run, however, the race for the nomination appears to be tightening up with DeSantis beating Trump amongst Floridian Republicans — and he is also closing the gap with voters in Iowa which is always the first stop on a presidential campaign.

Like other Republicans across the country, Michigan voters, who have been key in helping decide the last two presidential elections, believe Trump should run again. Yet the Republican primary contest is likely to be split amongst those in the Wolverine State.

Trump officially won Michigan in 2016 with 47.3 percent of the vote, beating out Hillary Clinton by 10,704 votes. President Joe Biden, however, won the state with 50.6 percent in 2020 under a cloud of COVID controversy — beating Trump by 154,188 votes.

The state has been crucial in determining the future of the country, and will likely continue to serve as an important bellwether for many election cycles to come.

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