(This story was updated to correct U.S. Sen. Tim Scott’s state)
Does Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have presidential plans for 2028? He hasn’t said yes, nor has he ruled it out after he leaves office in 2027, but he may have to get in line.
According to the most recent poll by AtlasIntel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio leads the field of potential Republican 2028 presidential candidates with 45.4% of primary voters. Vice President JD Vance is a distant second, with 29.6%.
DeSantis was third, with 11.2%, just above “none of the above” with 10.3%.
Much farther down the list were Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (1.4%), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (0.7%), U.S. Senator Tim Scott, R-South Carolina (0.7%), Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (0.4%), and Donald Trump, Jr. (0.4%).
On the Democrat side, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, surged to the top of the 2028 Democratic presidential primary poll with 26% of Democratic voters in favor, followed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (22.4%) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (21.2%).
The AtlasIntel poll suggests a rough ride for Republicans in the midterms, with 54.6% of respondents saying they were more likely to vote for a Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives.
The people surveyed were also, on the whole, disapproving of President Donald Trump (59.8%), his performance as president (60%), and his handling of nearly every policy. The only two policies that broke even were federal recognition of only two genders, where respondents were evenly divided, 47% for and against, and increasing U.S. fossil fuel production, which saw 48% in favor.
When asked about the greatest challenge the United States faces today, 48.6% said inflation and the cost of living, followed by the U.S. economy and job market (41.1%) and safeguarding democracy (38.3%).
The poll sampled more than 2,000 random people through online surveys, rather than face-to-face or phone methods, to avoid bias, AtlasIntel said.
Trump holds impromptu public poll, doesn’t mention DeSantis
At a Rose Garden Club Dinner honoring National Police Week on May 11, Trump brought up potential successors for his job. But he only mentioned two.
“We got a lot of beauties out there,” Trump said. “I don’t know, who’s it going to be? Is it going to be JD? Is it going to be somebody else?”
Trump opened it up to the audience, asking them to cheer for either Vance or Rubio, calling them a “perfect ticket” for a run together in the 2028 presidential election. (Vance got a louder response.)
“I do believe that’s a dream team, but these are minor details. That does not mean you have my endorsement under any circumstances,” Trump said. “I think it sounds like presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate.”
Positive, negative images of DeSantis
When it comes to what people think of him, DeSantis ranked higher than Vance or Newsom, but below Trump and a host of Democratic leaders such as former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, Ocasio-Cortez, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Buttigieg.
In the poll, just 39% of respondents reported a positive image of DeSantis, compared to the 55% with a negative image and 5% who didn’t know.
Trump was 40% positive and 60% negative, a negative view tied with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In a separate question on members of the Trump administration, Rubio saw a 51% positive opinion versus a 46% negative one.
Will Ron DeSantis run for president?
DeSantis has largely kept silent in public about his future plans, preferring to focus on his remaining time in office. However, in recent interviews, he pointedly has not ruled out a possible presidential run.
“I’m in my mid-40s. ’28, you know, maybe beyond that, I think that there’s a lot of runway,” DeSantis, 47, told the New York Post’s Charles Gasparino during a roundtable interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles on May 4.
DeSantis ran for president once already in 2024, but dropped out of the race after finishing far behind Trump in the Iowa primary.
In March, DeSantis told Fox News host Sean Hannity, “We’ll see,” adding that Trump supporters in the Iowa caucus would have supported him if Trump hadn’t been in the race.
Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY NETWORK, contributed to this story.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis for president? New poll shows him running 3rd
Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
