Vivek Ramaswamy tops DeSantis as best performing candidate in poll following first GOP debate
Business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy narrowly exceeded Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the top performing candidate in Wednesday's Republican debate, the first contest in the race to be the GOP nominee in next year's presidential election.
According to an exclusive New York Post poll, 23% of self-identified GOP voters said Ramaswamy won the debate on Wednesday while 21% said that DeSantis won. Former Vice President Mike Pence came in third with 11%.
The poll was conducted by Leger and surveyed 1,800 people.
“I think it’s interesting in the sense that you had one of the early front-runners, DeSantis, doing reasonably well, but you’ve also got a bit of an upstart coming in playing a bit of the outsider card,” Leger Executive Vice President Andrew Enns said in an interview with The Post.
Enns told the outlet that 61% of the GOP voters polled still want former President Donald Trump to be the nominee, with DeSantis coming in second with just 9%.
“No one’s gonna win this thing with Trump still a viable candidate,” he said.
While the former president faces four indictments, including two federal, he still continues to dominate the polls.