Former President Donald Trump may be dominating the GOP presidential primary field, but his 2024 rivals are still fighting out who will become the heir to the Trump-alternative throne. A poll released on Thursday is giving hope to two of the most prominent non-Trump candidates in the field.

Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) are tied for second place in a national poll of Republican voters conducted in the days following the first Republican National Committee primary debate last month.

WHAT CELESTE MALOY’S WIN IN UTAH’S SPECIAL ELECTION COULD MEAN FOR ROMNEY’S FUTURE

The poll was commissioned by the Republican Main Street Partnership and Women2Women in conjunction with Echelon Insights and found that Trump unsurprisingly leads the pack after skipping the debate at 59%. The former president was overwhelmingly supported by non-college-educated voters at 64%, those aged 18-39 at 64%, mothers at 67%, and the most conservative voters at 68%.

DeSantis and Ramaswamy both garnered 11% support, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, both tied at 6%. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former Texas Rep. Will Hurd all polled at 1%.

“Donald Trump is still polling well, and his absence at last month’s debate seemed to do him no harm. Even with a clear second tier occupied by DeSantis and Ramaswamy, the only other candidates in double digits, this is a divided field that only advantages the man with the highest name ID in the world,” said Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership. “In order for hopefuls to narrow this gap to Trump, they need to make serious headway among voters, promoting clear agendas that will actually address the problems like cost of living and mental health that voters really care about.”

While DeSantis has reliably polled in second place in most nationwide and state polls, Ramaswamy has seen his stock rise in recent weeks. The entrepreneur is often polling in second or third place above more established politicians seeking the White House, which has led to pointed attacks from Pence and Haley on the debate stage and the campaign trail.

Without Trump at the debate, Ramaswamy fielded plenty of attacks from rivals who sought to blunt his rising momentum. Yet the pointed Ramaswamy attacks were also a tacit acknowledgment that the 2024 field likely sees cracks in DeSantis’s second-place status that they are willing to exploit in order to secure the nomination.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Other issues of concern for voters included the 27% who said the cost of living was a top concern, as was immigration at 17%, jobs and the economy at 16%, and political corruption at 13%.

The survey of 1,026 likely Republican voters was conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 4 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.