Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have made other aspiring Republicans hesitant to jump into the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
A report, released by Politico, claims that many prominent Republicans are not planning on running in the current GOP primary cycle due to the looming presence of Trump. Although Trump’s popularity within the party and his status as former president make him a very formidable contender, the rise of Ron DeSantis as a popular conservative nationwide has created another obstacle for other primary hopefuls.
Though it’s still early in the primary cycle, some public polling shows Ron DeSantis performing at an exceptionally high level with the Republican base. Several polls have even shown DeSantis polling higher than Trump among Republican primary voters.
WATCH: @cornellbelcher says former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is getting into the 2024 GOP presidential primary early “because she needs to be.”
“She needs a longer ramp here than those other candidates do. … I think she has a very difficult road ahead of her.” pic.twitter.com/wxxAwYP3FH
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) February 1, 2023
However, Politico reports there are some candidates that hope Trump and DeSantis might focus their attacks on each other, so much so that they severely hurt each other’s campaigns. If both Trump and DeSantis drag each other down, then an opportunity for a third candidate to rise up and snatch the nomination could open. This could open an opportunity for a contender without as much popularity, such as Nikki Haley.
However, Amy Walter of Cook Political is not convinced that DeSantis or Trump are certain to secure the nomination this far out. She believes that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp could be a serious dark horse in the race. Walter pointed to Kemp’s work in bringing electric battery manufacturing to Georgia, along with his clear and optimistic vision towards the future.
“Kemp’s Lazarus-like rise from 2021, where he was a favorite target of a furious Donald Trump, to an easy win over well-funded Democratic superstar Stacey Abrams a year later is proof of his understated but incredible political skill,” Walter wrote.