Ron DeSantis has some catching up to do. The Florida governor entered the 2024 presidential race last week with polls showing him down about 30 points on average to Donald Trump in the GOP primary. DeSantis had trailed by closer to 10 points at the end of last year.
The former president has had something to do with DeSantis’ problems, but it’s not all on Trump. DeSantis, himself, has a bit of a “lovability” problem among Republican voters.
One of the key metrics I look at to understand choices made by primary voters is how many of them hold “strongly favorable” or “very favorable” views of the candidates. Most primary voters will like the majority of candidates because they’re all of the same party. The key to differentiate yourself in a primary is to be beloved (i.e., have a high strongly favorable rating). DeSantis has seen his numbers decline on this score. CONTINUED
Harry Enten, CNN
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