A comprehensive pre and post-Republican Party presidential primary debate poll has unveiled fascinating shifts in voter sentiment. This survey, a collaboration between FiveThirtyEight, The Washington Post, and Ipsos, provides insight into the evolving preferences among Republican voters considering various contenders for the party’s nomination. Notably, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has emerged as a standout beneficiary, garnering increased support from those who watched the debate, surpassing even former President Donald Trump. The poll also underscores the significant strides made by former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
The data from the survey indicates that DeSantis secured 29% of the vote, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy with 26%, and Haley with 15%. Interestingly, among GOP primary voters who expressed willingness to consider each candidate, Donald Trump initially held the lead with 66.2% indicating their openness to vote for him. However, this figure decreased to 61.4% after Trump’s absence from the debate. DeSantis, on the other hand, experienced a notable upward trajectory, moving from 63% before the debate to an impressive 67.5% after his compelling performance. Notably, Haley’s support witnessed the most remarkable surge, soaring from a modest 30% to a compelling 47%.
Another poll, commissioned by the New York Post, assessed which candidate viewers believed emerged as the debate’s winner. The results of this poll, conducted by a Canadian-owned market research and analytics company, demonstrated that Vivek Ramaswamy marginally outperformed DeSantis in this regard. The findings revealed that 23% of participants favored Ramaswamy, 21% supported DeSantis, and 11% chose former Vice President Mike Pence.
The Washington Post poll delved further into candidates’ favorability and unfavorability ratings. DeSantis concluded the event with an impressive overall favorable rating of 72.4%, along with the highest net favorable rating at 47%. Nikki Haley witnessed a significant uptick in her net favorability rating, surging by an impressive 13 percentage points, ascending from 26% to an encouraging 39%. Conversely, Ramaswamy experienced a decline of 9 percentage points, sliding from 37% to 28%. Trump’s net favorability, too, experienced a dip, slipping from 31% to 24%.
Interestingly, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina secured the lowest unfavorable rating at 23.2%, followed by DeSantis with the second lowest at 26.8%. Scott also stood out with the second-best net favorable rating at 42%.
This survey also probed Republican primary voters who did not watch the debate, uncovering their alternative activities. Remarkably, only 7% reported watching Trump’s interview with Tucker Carlson, a figure overshadowed by other options like engaging in housework at 11% and opting to watch other TV content at 29%. Interestingly, approximately 15 million individuals clicked on and watched at least 2 seconds of the 45-minute interview, surpassing the number of live debate viewers, which stood at around 13 million.