JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – A new poll released on Wednesday suggests Ron DeSantis may be running away with the gubernatorial race against Charlie Crist. Less than 48 hours after taking the debate stage with Crist, DeSantis holds a double-digit lead over his Democrat challenger.
The University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) poll shows 55 percent of likely voters prefer DeSantis, while only 41 percent said they would vote for Crist.
“Given DeSantis’s historic fundraising and popularity among Republicans, his lead in this race is not surprising,” Dr. Michael Binder, PORL faculty director and UNF professor of political science, said. “The surprise in these numbers is that a statewide race in Florida is closer to a blowout than a recount.”
The results are among the latest in a spate of polls coming out this week that forecast a favorable outcome for the governor on election day. Mason-Dixon’s Telemundo/LX News poll, conducted last week, revealed a seven-point lead with Hispanic voters in the state. DeSantis lost the Hispanic vote to Andrew Gillum by 10 points, according to CNN.
Additionally, the Florida GOP celebrated a lead of more than 300,000 registered voters last week. Democrats held a lead of over 200,000 voters heading into the 2018 election when DeSantis won a narrow victory over Andrew Gillum. Since then, the Republican Party has added more than 540,600 registered voters in the state, while Democrats have lost over 9,000 registered voters.
