The Republican field for the 2024 presidential election has grown, with a dozen candidates and potentially more to come.
While Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis have consistently held the top two positions in numerous polls, there's a new contender gaining momentum who could potentially challenge for the second spot.
What Happened: In February, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy declared his plans to vie for the presidency in the 2024 election, aiming to secure the GOP nomination. In recent weeks, Ramaswamy has been gaining on DeSantis in the polls.
In the latest Morning Consult poll, Trump held a 35-point lead over second place DeSantis in a hypothetical matchup of GOP candidates among Republican voters.
Recently, Ramaswamy has climbed to third place in the polls, garnering 8% of the vote. This surge has seen him overtake former Vice President Mike Pence.
Ramaswamy has also been performing well in terms of favorability, with a rating of 53% - his highest since he launched his campaign. His unfavorable rating stands at 13%, which is among the lowest for Republican candidates.
The biotech entrepreneur also appears to have potential for growth in the polls, as 23% of respondents in the Morning Consult poll indicated they have never heard of him, and an additional 12% stated they have heard of him but currently hold no opinion.
The RealClear Politics 2024 poll composite index shows Ramaswamy and Pence battling it out for third place. The tracker, which takes into account Morning Consult, Ipsos, YouGov, Yahoo, Reuters and other leading polls, saw Ramaswamy recently pass Pence nationwide with 5.9% to 5.6% support in the polls, according to the New York Post.
Ramaswamy ranks high in several polls including the Harvard-Harris, Morning Consult and Reuters/Ipsos. Polls where he doesn’t rank as high include Yahoo News, Rasmussen and The Economist. In the Harvard-Harris poll, Ramaswamy gets 10% of the vote, trailing DeSantis by only two-points for second place.
Along with ranking even or passing Pence, the distance between Ramaswamy and Pence over Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Chris Christie could also be growing.
Overall, Trump leads the RealClear poll rankings with 51.8%, followed by DeSantis who holds 18.5%.
Benzinga previously reported on a poll of Texas voters that saw Ramaswamy get only 2% of the vote among GOP candidates from Republican and Independent voters.
Related Link: Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy Unite In Defense Of Jason Aldean And His Controversial Song
Why It’s Important: Ramaswamy has increased his political spending, with $8.1 million spent in the second quarter, coming in ahead of fundraising in the same quarter.
The rise of Ramaswamy and the potential fall of DeSantis could provide an interesting storyline. Trump and DeSantis have clashed and publicly criticized each other.
Ramaswamy, on the other hand, has criticized the investigations into Trump and received praise from the former president.
The question remains if the same will be seen if Ramaswamy passes DeSantis and becomes the biggest rival in the polls to Trump.
“I think Vivek has done a very good job, frankly. I think some others have done a good job,” Trump said recently of the GOP candidate.
Trump praised the rise of Ramaswamy earlier this year as well.
“I am pleased to see that Vivek Ramaswamy is doing so well in the most recent Republican Primary Poll, CBS YouGov. He is tied with Mike Pence, and seems to be on his way to catching Ron DeSanctimonious.”
According to Trump, the reason Ramaswamy might be doing so well is because of the positive comments he made about “President Trump.”
The former president has called out a lack of competition in the Republican field and also dismissed DeSantis, who he said wouldn’t be in second place forever.
“Somebody said, ‘How come you only attack (DeSantis)?’ I said, ‘Cause he’s in second place. But soon, I don’t think he’ll be in second place, so I’ll be attacking somebody else,” Trump previously said.
As Trump has likely commended Ramaswamy for surpassing former allies such as DeSantis and Pence, who have distanced themselves from the former president, it will be intriguing to see if Ramaswamy faces similar criticism if he ascends to the second spot.
Photo: Gage Skidmore on flickr
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