Conducted by CWS Research, which has polled the 2024 question frequently throughout the year, the poll surveyed 1,099 respondents who are gauged to be likely GOP voters. It has a 2.96 percent margin of error.
The same pollster pegged Trump up 17 points on DeSantis in its October poll.
The results show in a 2024 field with Trump:
- Ron DeSantis-43%
- Donald Trump-32%
- Mike Pence-5%
- Nikki Haley-4%
- Mike Pompeo-1%
- Tim Scott-1%
- Undecided-13%
And without Trump in the field, it shows:
- DeSantis-66%
- Pence-8%
- Haley-5%
- Pompeo-3%
- Scott-2%
- Undecided-16%
A poll last week of GOP voters nationwide found DeSantis to have a 7-point lead over Trump.
After the fallout from the GOP’s lackluster national showing this midterm, the 2024 jockeying has taken center stage. The night before the election, Trump strongly hinted at his rally in Ohio that he’d be announcing for president on Tuesday, November 15 at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
On his Truth Social app, Trump took aim at DeSantis, calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious” and attributing himself as the cause for DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial victory.
DeSantis, meanwhile, has said nothing.
Trump won the 2020 vote in Texas by 5.6 points, down from his 2016 margin of 9 points.
Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi said in a release of the poll, “Election day made it clear that Texas is getting more red, not less. This poll shows that GOP voters would like to see their hard work rewarded and we at the Texas GOP will fight to ensure that happens and their voice is heard.”
The poll also surveyed GOP voters’ views on Democrats being appointed as committee chairs in the Texas Legislature. Of those surveyed, 70 percent opposed Democrats being given “leadership positions,” and 66 percent said they’re less likely to vote in primaries for GOP representatives who support Democratic committee chairs.
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) has made it the feature of his longshot bid for House speaker, and the Texas GOP and Rinaldi have repeatedly called on House leadership to avoid appointing Democrats to committee chair positions. The issue will be hotly debated when the body considers its House rules for the 88th Regular Session after they reconvene in January next year.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
