For the moment, Florida voters still support the job Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing — including his war on Disney.
New polling from the Florida Atlantic University Mainstreet PolCom Lab shows Floridians remain positive about DeSantis’ work as Governor. About 54% of voters say they approve of “the way Ron DeSantis is handling his job as Governor of Florida.” A strong plurality, 41%, say they strongly approve.
By comparison, 43% disapprove of his job performance, with 34% of voters strongly disapproving.
Only 3% said they had no opinion, a sign both of DeSantis’ enormous name recognition in the state and the polarizing sentiments he inspires.
But with the poll showing a net positive rating of 13 percentage points, he still has the public in his corner.
In particular, he polls well with male voters, with 49% strongly approving of his work compared to 34% of women. But he’s well north of 50% in overall approval with male and female voters.
Older voters also strongly back the Governor, with 46% voicing strong approval just 36% signaling strong disapproval. But even in his weakest age demographic set of 18- to 34-year-olds, DeSantis has 49% of respondents overall voicing approval and 46% disapproving.
And while nearly 72% of Black voters disapprove of the Governor, he has majority support among White and Hispanic voters. The same goes for voters in every income bracket making more than $20,000 a year, and even in those making less than that, 48% of voters support him and just 42% disapprove.
For what it’s worth, DeSantis’ approval rating is better than former President Donald Trump, even though the same poll shows DeSantis losing the Presidential Primary to Trump in both men’s home state.
About 50% of voters in Florida view Trump favorably, 33% strongly so. Meanwhile, 47% view the ex-President unfavorably, with 38% strongly disliking him. That puts Trump just 3 percentage points above water.
As for one of his most polarizing fights, DeSantis still has Florida voters on his side in an ongoing battle with Disney. That said, the public remains more divided on that than the Governor’s overall job performance.
About 47% of those polled say they still support DeSantis more than the Mouse in the war, with 35% strongly backing the Governor. Meanwhile, 43% support Disney, and 33% strongly support the company, numbers closely correlated to DeSantis’ disapproval rating. Some 9% of those surveyed offered no opinion.
There’s strong partisanship behind voters’ opinions. About 62% of Democrats, for example, strongly support Disney over DeSantis. Meanwhile, 64% of Republicans strongly support the Governor.
Independents are split on the matter. Some 42% of voters not identifying with a major party support the Governor’s position on Disney, about 28% strongly so. A similar 42% say Disney is in the right, with 30% of independents strongly siding with Mickey.
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