Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis saw the largest increase in favorability among Republican candidates following the first GOP presidential debate, according to a new Iowa poll from Public Opinion Strategies.
DeSantis saw his favorability rating rise by about 4 percentage points, while Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina saw his rise by 1 point. Former Vice President Mike Pence's rating rose by less than 1 point, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley's rating fell by 2 points, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy's fell by 6 points, former President Donald Trump's rating dropped by 9 points, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's rating dropped by 14 points.
The portion of voters who say they definitely are not considering voting for Trump rose to its highest level recorded by Public Opinion Strategies, 35%, following the debate. Just over 1 in 4 voters are "only considering Trump," and 38% say they are considering Trump and other candidates.
When asked who was the "strongest conservative," the "strongest leader," the most "able to defeat [President Joe] Biden," the "strongest on border security," and the most "able to defeat Trump" of the candidates who participated in the debate, DeSantis was rated the highest in all categories.
The poll also notes that "Ramaswamy was simply a placeholder position on the debate stage for core Trump voters. Vivek doesn't even win over voters who say he won the debate on Wednesday night."
Most voters who said Ramaswamy won the debate also said they plan to vote for a candidate other than Ramaswamy, with 60% saying they plan to vote for Trump.
Public Opinion Strategies surveyed 400 likely Republican caucusgoers in Iowa on Aug. 24 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.