Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy lead, surprising UN ambassador Nikki Haley in latest GOP assessment

The second GOP primary debate in Simi Valley, California on Wednesday night saw a surprising performance from entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who topped the ratings and polls among the 546 Republicans who watched the event, according to a survey conducted exclusively for DailyMail.com, defyning the initial report where UN Ambassador and Gov. Nikki Haley outshined.

Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old political newcomer, scored a 6.9 out of 10, the highest rating among the seven candidates on stage, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with a 6.5.

The South Carolina duo of former Nikki and Sen. Tim Scott came in third and fourth with 5.6 and 5.5 respectively.

he survey also asked the respondents to rate the candidates on various attributes, such as strength, competence, charm, aggression, and annoyance. Ramaswamy emerged as the winner in several categories, including being the most well-spoken (33 percent), the most persuasive (23 percent), and the most aggressive (tied with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 15 percent).

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Ramaswamy also received the highest percentage of respondents (35 percent) who said he won the debate, while Christie received the highest percentage (20 percent) who said he lost.

Christie also earned the dubious distinction of being the most annoying candidate on stage.

DeSantis, who has been trailing former President Donald Trump in most polls for months, did not have a breakthrough moment either. He tied with Ramaswamy for being the most presidential (19 percent each) and was voted the most competent (26 percent), but he did not dominate the conversation or impress the viewers as much as Ramaswamy did.

The only woman on stage, Haley, was deemed the most charming (11 percent), while Scott did not stand out in any category.

The other two candidates, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Vice President Mike Pence, were largely ignored by the respondents, who rated them as the ‘most weak’ and ‘boring’ respectively.

The survey also revealed that the Republicans who watched the debate remain loyal to Trump, who skipped the event to hold a rally in Michigan instead.

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Twenty-seven percent of them said that Trump was the real winner of the night, indicating that he still has a strong hold on his base.

Pollster James Johnson, the co-founder of JLP, commented on the results and said that Ramaswamy was able to appeal to the Trump-leaning voters in the absence of their preferred candidate.

He also said, “Haley and Scott did well but did not dominate the conversation,' he said. 'Christie and Burgum were the definitive losers, written off by Republicans as annoying and boring respectively.”

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