If not DeSantis, who? Five alternatives to Trump for the GOP nomination

Questions are growing sharper by the day about whether Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) can pose a serious challenge to former President Trump for the GOP nomination.

DeSantis has been plateauing in polls. He has been criticized for campaign missteps on issues from Ukraine to LGBTQ+ rights. And, just this past weekend, it emerged that his campaign had laid off some mid-level staff, a decision widely assumed to be related to money worries.

DeSantis’s weakness opens the door to some lower-polling candidates, if they can find a way to draw real support from GOP voters eager for an alternative to Trump.

Here are five other alternatives in the Republican field.

Sen Tim Scott (SC)

Scott hasn’t made any great headway so far but he could still gain traction.

He has skills on the stump, is nearly universally liked personally and, as the sole Black Republican in the Senate, brings a unique perspective to the campaign.

The South Carolina senator has leaned into his race at times, accusing the Biden administration and liberals in general of weaponizing racial issues and creating a “victim mentality” among people of color.

He’s also been willing to take that argument to unconventional places, including ABC’s “The View.”

Scott raised a respectable but not earth-shattering $6.1 million for his campaign in the second quarter. But his campaign also appears to have been spending at quite a clip. 

Still, for Republicans looking for a candidate starkly different from Trump and DeSantis — but still a solid conservative — Scott could fit the bill.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley

Haley sits at around 4 percent in national polls, but her backers argue it’s the early primary states that matter.

Haley is putting a lot of her chips on retail politics in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote. As of Monday, Haley had held 27 grassroots events in Iowa and 39 grassroots events in New Hampshire, according to her campaign. 

The former South Carolina governor is a gifted retail politician. As she notes at many campaign stops, she has never lost an election.

She is also a solid debater, which could see her move up the poll ratings after debate season gets underway late next month.

The biggest question mark is whether the GOP electorate is buying what Haley is selling.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy is certainly different. He is just 37 years old, has never held elected office, is Hindu and made a fortune at an early age.

He ranks fourth in the weighted national polling average maintained by data site FiveThirtyEight and has secured third place in some polls. He is also adept at making headlines for himself, as when he recently announced an unusual scheme to pay commission to anyone who fundraises for his campaign.

But how badly does he really want to beat Trump?

Last month, he promised that if he were elected, he would pardon Trump — and called on other contenders for the nomination to commit to do the same.

During an appearance in Iowa last week, he placed the blame for the Capitol Riot of Jan. 6, 2021, on “pervasive censorship” rather than Trump’s fictions about election fraud.

On Sunday, Trump praised Ramaswamy during an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News, saying that he had “done a very good job, frankly.”

Former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie

Christie is a long shot in a party whose grassroots supporters remain overwhelmingly positive about Trump.

But the pugnacious former New Jersey governor at least has a lane almost to himself. He is far more willing than any other significant candidate to make full-bore attacks on Trump.

During a CNN interview Sunday, Christie called Trump a “liar and a coward” who had been indicted because of his own “outrageous” behavior.

There is little sign that Christie’s message is resonating so far. 

In a recent Economist/YouGov poll, he recorded just 2 percent support. It’s also not clear whether Christie can raise the money to sustain a campaign — he raised about $1.6 million in the latest figures but, to be fair, he had only entered the campaign three weeks before the quarter ended.

Christie is a gifted debater and adept media performer; the question is whether today’s GOP has any significant constituency for his emphatic anti-Trump rhetoric.

None of the above

There could yet be late entrants to the field. 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is very popular with the GOP donor community, and some people believe he could deliver on the campaign trail in a way that the Florida governor has not so far.

Another option is Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who, despite clashing with Trump, coasted to reelection in the Peach State last November — vanquishing high-profile Democrat Stacey Abrams in the process.

It’s also possible that one of the other declared candidates might somehow break through. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence, for example, often polls in third place. The problem is Pence has higher unfavorable ratings with GOP voters than almost any other major candidate. This vulnerability was reflected in weak fundraising numbers for the latest quarter.

There could, of course, be some other dark horse who emerges.

But for now, Trump has to be buoyed by the lack of any one person who is really endangering his march toward the nomination.