- In one of the final polls to be published ahead of election day, incumbent governor Ron DeSantis has his largest lead of the campaign at 14 points
- Research Co., the pollster that conducted the survey, deemed DeSantis as “heavily favored to win a new term in office”
- Much of DeSantis’ momentum is carried by Hispanic voters, garnering a 48 percent approval rate within the voting bloc. The figure is considerably higher than previous Republican candidates in Florida
- DeSantis amassed a record-breaking $200 million in fundraising for his campaign
In one of the final polls released before election day, independent Research Co. reports that the incumbent Ron DeSantis holds a fourteen-point lead over Democrat challenger Charlie Crist.
In the pollster’s most recent publication, released on Monday, they deem DeSantis as “heavily favored to win a new term in office,” reporting his biggest lead over Crist since his re-election campaign began.
“Florida is an important bellwether state,” said Dr. Hans Hassel, Institute of Politics at FSU Director. “The results from the IOP poll show favorable winds for Republican candidates.”
All but one gubernatorial poll conducted in October declares DeSantis the election leader by double-digits, painting a picture of the one-sidedness of the race.
Much of DeSantis’ momentum is carried by his favorability rating among Hispanic voters. 48 percent of voters within the demographic responded to a recent YouGov poll in support of him, compared to 46 percent claiming dissatisfaction.
DeSantis also out-fundraised Crist by an unprecedented margin, hauling over $200 million dollars between donations and his political committee. The figure represents the highest raised total of any incumbent governor seeking re-election ever.
With his mountain of cash, DeSantis has been able to out-spend Crist in advertising at a rate of four-to-one, leading to an avalanche of television coverage for DeSantis compared to Crist’s light flurry.
The governor will enter election day with nearly $100 million on hand and anticipation of delivering a victory speech that night.
In a sign of trouble for Democrats, the number of registered Republicans that early voted in Miami-Dade County surpassed that of Democrats this week. The numbers hint at a voting trend that could result in a ‘red wave’ election cycle, given that early voting is something typically done by far more Democrat voters than Republicans.
Miami-Dade County, a traditional lock for Democrats, could flip red in a gubernatorial race for the first time since 2002 when Jeb Bush won a second term in office.