While former President Donald Trump maintains a 40-point lead over his Republican primary rivals, Vivek Ramaswamy has surged past Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to take second place, according to a new Echelon Insight poll.
Trump is the clear favorite for the Republican nomination, with 55 percent of likely primary voters support the former president. However, long-time second-place choice DeSantis continued his decline in the poll, falling to third.
Ramaswamy received 15 percent support, while DeSantis received just 12 percent in the RNC debate ratings poll. Ramaswamy’s second-place position aligns with Kaplan’s strategies poll he pitched Monday that also found him over DeSantis.
Republican Main Street Partnership President and CEO Sarah Chamberlain said Ramaswamy “has risen far above expectations and currently leads the pack.”
chamberlain said:
While Donald Trump remains the front-runner, Republican voters looking for an alternative candidate are starting to coalesce around some top choices. For much of the past year, it was Gov. DeSantis, but Vivek Ramaswamy has far exceeded expectations and is currently leading the pack of challengers. Voters are clearly hungry for something new — no group more so than the suburban women who often decide elections. If Mr. Ramaswamy, Governor DeSantis, or any of the other contenders want a serious shot at winning the nomination, appealing to these voters should be a top priority.
After DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence received four percent, while Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott (R) got three percent support. Chris Christie is the only other candidate who received at least one percent support.
The Republican Main Street Partnership, along with Echelon Insights, surveyed 1,017 likely Republican primary voters across the country from August 15-17. The poll has a margin of error of ±3.9 percent.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him Twitter.
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