Ron DeSantis Plummets Into Third Place in GOP Primary With Bookmakers

Ron DeSantis has fallen behind Vivek Ramaswamy into third place in the race to represent the Republicans at the 2024 presidential election, according to an amalgamation of bookies odds.

An analysis by Newsweek of odds being offered on the OddsChecker website found the average bookies offering for DeSantis is now 7.1/1, behind Ramaswamy on 7/1.

This is a further blow for the Florida governor after a Cygnal poll, published on August 10, found he was only the preferred Republican presidential candidate of 10 percent of GOP voters, putting him third behind Trump on 53 percent and Ramaswamy on 11 percent. DeSantis had been widely regarded as Trump's most dangerous rival, but he has struggled to make an impression since formally announcing his campaign on X, formerly Twitter, in May.

Oddschecker compiles the odds from 22 bookmakers, predominantly based in the U.K., which are taking bets on who will be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. Those features include industry giants such as Bet365, William Hill, Paddy Power and Coral.

All 22 companies offer odds on DeSantis being the GOP nominee, with the average available being 7.1/1. Only Bet 365, 10 BET, William Hill, Quinn Bet and Matchbook give odds on Ramaswamy winning, but these average out at 7/1, putting him narrowly ahead of DeSantis. A 7/1 bet means the bookmaker will pay out $7 for a $1 stake if Ramaswamy does secure the Republican 2024 nomination.

Newsweek has approached the Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy campaigns for comment via email.

On Tuesday, an Emerson College survey found DeSantis was the third most popular potential GOP presidential nominee with New Hampshire Republicans.

Of those polled, 49 percent said they would back Trump, followed by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on nine percent, then DeSantis on eight percent.

The DeSantis campaign has undergone major changes over the past couple of months, with his chief-of-staff James Uthmeier replacing Generra Peck as his campaign manager earlier in August. The previous month, 38 DeSantis staffers were reportedly fired, including a communications worker who allegedly retweeted a video backing the Florida governor which included a symbol commonly used by neo-Nazis.

Speaking to Newsweek last week, Giancarlo Sopo, a DeSantis backing Republican social media strategist from Florida, claimed the revamp had already improved the Florida governor's campaign.

He said: "It's not unusual for presidential campaigns to change leadership—both Reagan and Trump did this—and there have been noticeable improvements since this recalibration began a few weeks ago.

"We need leaders with high standards who are not afraid to make tough decisions when things don't go according to plan. One can only hope Governor DeSantis brings this same level of accountability to our bloated federal bureaucracy."