Florida Poll: Trump at 60 Percent, Leads DeSantis by Nearly 40 Points in Sunshine State

Former President Donald Trump has opened up a commanding primary lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primary in the Sunshine State, a poll released Tuesday shows.

Trump, now at 60 percent support, enjoys clear majority backing in the state that just a year ago reelected DeSantis in a landslide win. DeSantis, down at just 21 percent, trails the former president by 39 points. Every other candidate is in single digits, with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley at six percent, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at two percent, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy at one percent.

The poll, conducted by the Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) at the University of North Florida (UNF) in Jacksonville, surveyed 788 registered GOP voters from Oct. 23 through Nov. 4. The margin of error is 3.77 percent.

“Despite historically high approval in the polls, Governor DeSantis losing steam in his home state doesn’t bode well for his national campaign,” Dr. Michael Binder, PORL faculty director and professor of political science at UNF, said. “Even if you wipe out the rest of the competition in a head-to-head, Trump leads DeSantis by 20 points.”

When polled head-to-head with Trump, DeSantis does not fare much better—and still trails Trump significantly. In such a question, Trump maintains majority-level support at 59 percent and DeSantis only grows his numbers to 29 percent—meaning DeSantis in a head-to-head with Trump in his own state trails the former president by 30 percent.

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Florida’s place at the center of the GOP universe in recent years cannot be overstated. Both Trump and DeSantis call the Sunshine State home, and all of the candidates were just in Kissimmee right outside Orlando for the Republican Party of Florida’s Freedom Summit last weekend. What’s more, Florida is host to the third GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday evening in Miami—where DeSantis, Haley, Christie, Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) will face off on stage.

Trump, who also skipped the first two debates given his gargantuan polling lead, will instead again counter-program the debate with a rally of his own in nearby Hialeah where Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will formally endorse him.