Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received high ratings for their performances in a Wednesday night debate, according to a poll conducted exclusively for DailyMail.com. The survey asked 546 Republicans to rate the candidates on a scale of one to 10, with Ramaswamy earning the highest rating of 6.9 and DeSantis following closely with a rating of 6.5. The top performers were closely followed by former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley with a rating of 5.6 and Senator Tim Scott with a rating of 5.5. On the other end, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie received a low rating of 4.6 and was also voted the ‘most annoying’.
The poll revealed that Ramaswamy had the highest percentage of Republicans who believed he won the debate, while Christie had the highest percentage of respondents who thought he lost. Respondents also voted Ramaswamy and Christie as the most aggressive competitors, with Ramaswamy being favored for his style. DeSantis was viewed as the most presidential and competent candidate, and Haley was considered the ‘most charming’. However, the poll also showed that 27 percent of Republicans still believed that former President Donald Trump was the real winner, despite his absence from the debate.
Pollster James Johnson noted that the survey reflected a ‘Trump-dominated electorate’ and that Trump-leaning voters favored Ramaswamy in the absence of the former president. He stated that DeSantis came across as the most presidential and competent but failed to make a lasting impression. Johnson concluded that the race remained unchanged, with Haley and Scott performing well but not dominating the conversation, while Christie and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum were seen as the losers, viewed as annoying and boring respectively.
