What to Know
- The poll was conducted last week with 1,161 Florida residents surveyed and a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent.
With just two weeks to go until Florida officially elects the state’s next governor, the two men fighting for the job remaining in a close battle heading into the homestretch according to the latest poll.
In a Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday, Democratic nominee and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum holds a slight lead over former U.S. Rep. and GOP nominee Ron DeSantis. 52 percent of those polled said they would vote for Gillum if the election was held today while 46 percent said they would support DeSantis with two percent remaining undecided.
The poll was conducted last week with 1,161 Florida residents surveyed and a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent – with 95 percent of voters saying their mind is made up at this point.
Gillum, who is seeking to become the first black governor in Florida history, holds strong leads over DeSantis among minority voters – including 99 percent of black voters surveyed and 59 percent among Hispanics while also leading by nearly 20 percent among women (59 to 38) and Independents (57 to 39) – while DeSantis leads 54 to 44 percent among both white and male voters.
Both candidates hold strong support from voters surveyed in their parties, while DeSantis – whose upset win in the primary was due in part to support from President Donald Trump – saw his favorability rating move up slightly to 43 percent, up one point from last month. Gillum’s favorability rating dropped from 55 to 50 percent over that same span.
DeSantis holds double digit leads in both the Florida Panhandle – areas affected by Hurricane Michael earlier this month – and Southwest Florida, while Gillum holds a slight lead in Central Florida, a double digit lead in the Tampa Bay area and a nearly 25 point lead in the southeast portion of the state.
