Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis trounces potential Democrat challengers in head-to-head matchups, a new poll has revealed.
The Saint Leo University Polling Institute survey of Florida residents found that DeSantis enjoys a sizable lead over several potential gubernatorial election rivals.
DeSantis scored 50.6 percent support when the poll pitted DeSantis against Democrat Nikki Fried, the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Fried’s scored just 27 percent in the matchup while 22.4% of respondents were unsure.
In a matchup against U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL), who previously served as Florida governor from early 2007 until early 2011, DeSantis enjoyed 49.2 percent of the support.
Meanwhile, just 32.8 percent opted for Crist, and 18% were unsure.
Crist was a Republican when he was elected to serve as governor, but later lost a 2010 U.S. Senate bid while running as an independent — he is now a Democrat.
And between DeSantis and Florida state Sen. Annette Taddeo (D), 48.6% picked DeSantis, while just 29.6% chose Taddeo, and 21.8% were unsure.
Respondents were given names but were not supplied with descriptions or party affiliations, according to the Saint Leo University Polling Institute.
The online poll occurred between Feb. 28 and March 12 and has a 4.5 percent margin of error.
“Being close to 50 percent in all three of the races means that he is in relatively powerful position moving forward, but we should expect tightening once the Dems pick their nominee,” said Saint Leo University Polling Institute director Frank Orlando.
The poll also found that DeSantis has a 58.8% job approval rating — while 37.4% strongly approve, 21.4% somewhat approve, 11.4% somewhat disapprove, and 25.4% strongly disapprove.
The poll results indicate that DeSantis, who is running for re-election this year, is poised to trounce his competition during the upcoming gubernatorial contest.
“While he gets lots of national attention for provoking the ire of liberals on things like masking, it doesn’t seem to hurt him in Florida, and in fact continues to raise his national profile,” Orlando said.
