DeSantis falls to 8%, tied with Haley for second place: poll

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is falling in the GOP presidential primary polls, with one new poll showing him at 8%, tied for second place with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, while former President Donald Trump is 47 points ahead of them both.

DeSantis' support is significantly lower than it was in January, when it was at 31% while Trump was at 43%. Since that point, the latest McLaughlin and Associates survey, conducted Oct. 22-26, shows that Trump is at a high of 55%. 

Meanwhile, two other people are marginally behind DeSantis and Haley: entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, with 7% support, and former Vice President Mike Pence, who dropped out of the race Saturday, with 6% support.

The survey also showed that Trump would beat President Joe Biden if the 2024 election were held today by 38% to 35%. Now-independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received 14% in the survey, while Cornel West, another independent candidate, received 2%, and 13% of voters were undecided. 

This poll was with 1,000 likely general election voters, including 449 likely Republican primary voters. The margin of error was not immediately available. 

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