Ron DeSantis defeated Nikki Haley out of sight Wednesday night in the third Republican presidential debate, according to an exclusive DailyMail.com poll of viewers.
The pair have dropped to second place in the Republican nomination race behind Donald Trump.
The Florida governor was rated the most presidential of the five candidates on stage and better positioned than Haley, the former South Carolina governor, to take the front-runner position.
The findings will boost his campaign after months of negative headlines and questions about whether his 2024 run failed.
In a head-to-head matchup, 56 percent of respondents said DeSantis outperformed Haley, according to a poll of 544 viewers conducted by JL Partners. In contrast, 35 percent said Haley did better.
And when asked who was best positioned to defeat the former president, 53 percent said DeSantis and 29 percent chose Haley.
Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis clashed over China, abortion and fracking. As Haley became embroiled in battles with other candidates, viewers said the Florida governor was more “presidential.”
DeSantis defeated Haley out of sight Wednesday night in the third Republican presidential debate, according to an exclusive DailyMail.com poll of viewers.
A series of recent polls have these two candidates tied in the race for second place overall.
“Republican donors and kingmakers across the country are trying to figure out who to back to run against Trump: Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley,” said James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners.
“Debate watchers at least have a clear answer: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“He is believed to have outperformed Haley by a 20-point margin, beating her in every area, including most presidential, Israel’s strongest and, crucially, who can best take on Donald Trump.”
Five candidates took the stage in Miami on Wednesday.
While Haley jousted with her rivals — calling biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy “scum” in the evening’s most memorable moment — DeSantis stuck to a strategy to rise above the fray.
“DeSantis did what he had to do,” donor Dan Eberhart said. ‘He was calm, measured and presidential.
“He showed that he is the only alternative to Trump.”
In the showdown with Haley, viewers also rated him as more persuasive with 12 points, more presidential with 26 points and stronger with 19 points.
However, time is running out for DeSantis and the rest of the field. There are just 60 days before Iowa holds its caucuses to select the state’s candidate.
The contenders lined up in front of the White House backdrop at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday evening.
It was more raucous on the road where Trump was at Ted Hendricks Stadium
The most recent polls show Trump with a lead of at least 27 points over DeSantis and Haley.
Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to President Trump, said DeSantis performed well while Haley’s night was up and down.
Neither had disrupted the overall momentum of the race, she added.
“I think tonight we were looking at five people waiting in the wings in case the front runner stopped running. But that’s unlikely,” she said.
It was now a matter of hanging in there until the Iowa caucuses to see what happened, she added.
Both DeSantis and Haley were careful Wednesday not to hit too hard on Trump, who was holding a rally nearby, to avoid alienating his loyal group of supporters.
At the start, they were both asked why they would be a better candidate than the former president.
“He said Republicans were going to get tired of winning,” DeSantis said before bringing up Tuesday’s disappointing election results. “Well, we saw last night: I’m tired of Republicans losing.”
Nikki Haley won support from the audience with her answer on abortion, one of the issues that divided the five candidates on the debate stage
DeSantis and his wife Casey wave as they leave the third Republican presidential primary debate in Miami
DeSantis was re-elected governor of Florida last year after a landslide victory
He won big a year ago. DeSantis was re-elected as governor of Florida in a landslide and appeared to be the candidate to beat for the 2024 nomination.
But his rising star has faded, overshadowed by Trump’s massive campaign.
DeSantis suggested Trump was not the big beast he once was and accused him of failing to implement his “America First” policies.
The former president stayed away from Wednesday’s debate, but still cast a long shadow.
“Everyone wants to talk about President Trump,” Haley said when asked about him.
“Well, I can talk about President Trump. I can tell you that I think he was the right president at the right time. I don’t think he’s the right president right now.”
While DeSantis has cast himself as Trump without the baggage, a culture warrior who understands how government works, Haley has chosen a different course.
She is acting as a more traditional conservative, with a more interventionist foreign policy than the isolationists who have come to dominate the Republican Party.
And sometimes she clashed with DeSantis. They disagreed on abortion, traded blows with China and accused him of being “liberal” on the environment for opposing fracking off the coast of Florida.
Vivek Ramaswamy had a strong first debate, pollster James Johnson said, but has since faded and his combative style has irritated some viewers
Haley (R) and her daughter Rena Haley (L) pose for photos after the third Republican presidential primary debate in the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center
He hit back, saying, “We’re definitely going to frack, but I don’t agree with Nikki Haley.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to drill in the Florida Everglades and I know most Floridians agree with me.”
Pollster Johnson added that Ramaswamy had faded after a strong first debate, while former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Senator Tim Scott had failed to impress in Wednesday’s debate.
“If Republicans want to put forward a candidate other than Trump, they need to unite around one candidate, and quickly,” he said. The verdict from ‘debate watchers tonight is that that candidate is Ron DeSantis.’
The poll was conducted as soon as the debate ended, from 10:00 PM eastern time to 11:30 PM. It has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.
