A large percentage of Florida's Republican voters continue to support Gov. Ron DeSantis, but his overall popularity has been declining in recent weeks amid the surge in COVID-19, a new poll shows.
In the Morning Consult Political Intelligence poll of 4,174 registered Florida voters conducted Aug. 21-30, 48% approve of DeSantis' job performance, while 48% disapprove. A similar poll conducted from June 22 to July 1 showed 54% approval to 40% disapproval.
The first-term Florida governor’s approval among Republicans remained strong at 83%, compared to 87% in the earlier poll. Approval among Democrats was at 21% compared to 24% in the previous poll.
But among independents, DeSantis' approval has dropped 10 percentage points, from 50% to 40%, according to the poll. Disapproval among independents has gone from 38% to 51%.
329 medal events. 32 sports. Endless drama. Catch all the action at the Paris Olympics. Sign up for our free Olympics Headlines newsletter.
The poll was taken as the state experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, and while DeSantis fought public school districts over mask mandates.