A CWS Research poll released last week shows that of 715 Texas primary voters, 46% would choose Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and 13% would choose Gov. Greg Abbott if Donald Trump decides not to run for president in 2024.
The poll, conducted Feb. 5-7 through interactive voice response calls and SMS messages, shows that 96% are likely to vote and 78% of those polled were Republican. The respondents were randomly selected.
The poll comes less than a month after Newsweek published an opinion piece called “Ron DeSantis Welcomes You to Florida, America’s New Texas.” It shows DeSantis’ commitment to protecting “normal life” in Florida throughout the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. The piece said this was contrary to the work of Abbott, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines agreed with the assessment.
“When people first hear that I am running for governor, some people ask, ‘But isn’t Greg Abbott good enough?’” Huffines said. “Well, this poll shows how Texans really feel about ‘good enough’ when compared to a real leader. I believe that Texans deserve more out of Republican candidates. When I am governor, I will never settle for good enough. I will bring true conservative leadership back to Texas, and we will once again set the standard for the nation.”
The Newsweek piece said that if it wasn’t for DeSantis’ action in Florida to keep things normal, including Executive Order 21-133 that gave amnesty to businesses that were hit with fines, other governors in red states may not have had the courage to speak out and start opening up when they did. It also put DeSantis in a far more popular light, enough of one to even potentially rival Trump in a future election.
“The governor's tangible solutions to hot-button issues such as critical race theory indoctrination, election integrity, Big Tech censorship, protecting the unborn and immigration — all elaborated in his State of the State Address — stand in stark contrast to the former president's notable inability to do more than simply talk about them,” the Newsweek piece stated.
Abbott is the 48th governor of Texas. He was elected in 2014. Prior to that he was the longest-serving attorney general of Texas.
Huffines, a former Texas state senator and current CEO of Huffines Communities, takes on Abbott in the March 1 primary. There are a number of other Republican candidates as well. Frontrunners, along with Huffines and Abbott, include Texas GOP Chair Allen West and media personality Chad Prather.
Former El Paso City Council member and U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke, who has had unsuccessful bids for U.S. Senate and president in the past, leads the slate of Democratic contenders.
