America is beginning to take the next election cycle a bit more seriously these days, as the Republican field begins to see its first competitors step up.

President Trump was the first candidate to officially throw his hat in the ring way back in November 2022. Nikki Haley has begun her bid for the White House, and investment firm manager Vivek Ramaswamy has also recently jumped in the race.

Republican voter enthusiasm at the moment seems to be pointing to a match-up that isn’t even a sure thing at this point – Donald Trump vs. Rick DeSantis. Even the left wing media is curious how the two men will fare in a head-to-head.

An early poll of likely GOP voters released Thursday shows DeSantis leading among would-be candidates.

WPA Intelligence is a survey and data analytics firm that has provided key polling for big campaigns like Glenn Youngkin’s gubernatorial run and Ted Cruz’ presidential run in 2016.

Their latest snapshot poll sampled 1,000 verified Republican voters, and shows DeSantis leading the field at 40 percent — 9 points ahead of President Trump and miles ahead of the third place candidates Nikki Haley and Mike Pence, who tied at 8 percent. The rest of the likely candidates scored as follows:

• Liz Cheney – 5%
• Mike Pompeo – 5%
• Marco Rubio – 2%
• Larry Hogan – 1%
• Tim Scott – 1%

Our latest national poll of Republican primary voters:

DeSantis 40%
Trump 31%
Haley 8%
Pence 8%
Cheney 5%
Pompeo 2%
Rubio 1%
Hogan 1%
T. Scott <1%

Sample: 1,000 verified GOP primary voters. Conducted February 13-16.

— WPA Intelligence (@WPAIntel) February 23, 2023

The poll also provided a two-way race analysis, which saw DeSantis leading Trump by 18 points, at 55 percent.

Two-way:

Ron DeSantis: 55%
Donald Trump: 37%

— WPA Intelligence (@WPAIntel) February 23, 2023

DeSantis and Trump are standouts among Republican voters who are itching for their political leaders to push back boldly against the far-left progressive agenda. Both have made remarkable progress doing so in their time in the public eye. DeSantis has the advantage of currently governing, and having more recent “wins” in the cultural arena. Trump made huge strides during his term in office. It will remain to be seen how GOP loyalties pan out, if the Florida Governor does get into the race.