Republican senators who don’t want to see former President Donald Trump become the 2024 GOP’s Republican nominee are growing desperate to change the polls which show Trump as the frontrunner in the election, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appears to be losing ground.
Many Republican senators believe that DeSantis is the perfect alternative to Trump for the 2024 presidential election. This idea has gained a lot of momentum following the 2022 midterm election where DeSantis had a big reelection victory, while many of the Trump-endorsed candidates failed to win their elections.
However, since then DeSantis has lost significant ground, following what many strategists have viewed as high-profile political gaffes, which have allowed Trump to gain more ground in the polls.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) noted that it was still very early in the race and she would let the frontrunner be decided by the media. When asked about whether Republicans were looking for alternatives to both Trump and DeSantis, Murkowski revealed that she was.
On Wednesday, Sen. Mike Rounds (S.D.) on Wednesday became the first senator to endorse a candidate in the Republican primary other than DeSantis or Trump. Rounds instead noted that he would be backing South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R), who is also expected to run in the presidential election but is currently in sixth place according to most national polls. He added that in his view when choosing a candidate, they needed to choose someone who would be able to win a general election, which is something that Scott would be able to do.
Scott, much like DeSantis has not yet officially launched his presidential bid.
