There was a time when the polling gap between Ron DeSantis and the rest of the field was far wider than the one separating the Florida governor from the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential race, former President Donald Trump.
In fact, nine months ago, Mr. DeSantis appeared poised to be the GOP’s standard-bearer in challenging Democrat President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5, 2024, general election.
His relative youth in context to the octogenarian incumbent—as well as compared to Mr. Trump, who would turn 80 in a second term—and landslide reelection in a formerly purple state, the highlight of an otherwise disappointing 2022 midterms for Republicans nationwide, spurred his December-January surge in polling that put Mr. DeSantis within percentage points of Mr. Trump in what was shaping up as a two-candidate race.
During Mr. Trump’s post-midterm swoon—after many of his endorsed MAGA candidates were defeated in November’s election—Mr. DeSantis entered national Republicans’ consciousness with an elevator pitch based on his youth, his competency, and his discipline as a conservative governor with a winning record who could end the party’s “culture of losing” under the former president.
Fast-forward to July 25 and Mr. DeSantis is fighting a perception that he peaked before formally entering the race in May. Trailing consistently 20–30 percentage points behind Mr. Trump, he is now seeing tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) edging closer in polling, aiming to supplant him as “the other guy” in an election that, with the first primaries still six months away, does not appear to be competitive at this stage.
‘Anti-Woke’ Theme Misdirected
Campaign observers cite numerous ways Mr. DeSantis’s campaign stalled, but many say he failed to move beyond that initial elevator pitch and, instead, focused on running to the right of Mr. Trump across a range of social issues as a “culture warrior” that has cooled support from moderate, suburban voters, damaging his claim that he is more “electable” in a general election than Mr. Trump, most notably with a widely mocked anti-LGBTQ social media campaign video targeting the former president.
By John Haughey
