Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is now the most popular Republican Presidential candidate after former US President Donald Trump, a CNN poll showed. Surprisingly, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who was earlier seen as the chief rival to Trump has seen voting share decline significantly and is now in the 5th spot.
"DeSantis' decline stems from a sharp drop-off among moderates, from 26 per cent backing him in July to 6 per cent now. He fell a smaller 8 points among conservatives," the CNN report noted.
According to the CNN survey, Donald Trump is still the most popular Republican leader in the Presidential race with around 39 percent of GOP primary voters supporting him.
The survey also showed that a significant number of voters are open to changing their minds between now and the Republican primary which is slated to be held in January next year. Moreover, Trump voters are more likely to say that they have made up their mind compared to other candidates. The survey showed that 69% of the Trump voters in theprimary say they have made up their minds compared to 18% for other candidates.
Another Indian American candidate former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is just behind Ramaswamy with 12% vote share followed by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with 11% vote share and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott with 6% vote share.
Ramaswamy's rise is concentrated among the voters who aren't registered Republicans and among young voters, CNN reported. Meanwhile, Haley's voters are larger among voters with formal education and among moderates.
White House press secretary under Republican President George W. Bush and currently an anchor and political commentator at Fox News, Dana Perino said, "They're not going to be able to put a dent in his lead if they don't. President Trump has a commanding and seemingly very enduring lead. It's up to these candidates to show why they think that they would be better."
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