Danny McAuliffe
A new survey of Florida’s Governor’s race is giving Democrat Andrew Gillum a 5-point lead on Republican Ron DeSantis.
Gillum garnered 41 percent of support from respondents in a survey conducted over the weekend by Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI). DeSantis trailed behind, with 36 percent support. The poll, conducted via an online questionnaire, has a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.
In September, the same polling group showed Gillum up 41-38.
“Young voters could be a major factor in the Governor’s race,” FAU BEPI noted. Across the sample of 740 likely voters, 18 to 34-year-olds favored Gillum 46-24.
“If young voters turn out in high numbers, it could carry the Democratic ticket,” added Kevin Wagner, professor of political science at FAU and research fellow at FAU BEPI.
Early voting is underway in some parts of the state, and vote-by-mail ballots have been pouring in since earlier this month. But the poll, conducted from Oct. 18– 21, found that 18 percent of the sample remains undecided. Election Day is two weeks away.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Quinnipiac University Poll gave Gillum a 6-point lead. Another conducted over the weekend, from Tom Eldon’s SEA Polling & Strategic Design, found Gillum up 48-42 percent over his Republican rival. A CNN poll gave the Democrat a 12-point lead on Sunday.
But a Monday survey from St. Pete Polls put the race almost even, giving Gillum a razor-thin, 1-point lead over DeSantis. An internal poll released by the DeSantis campaign on Sunday showed the Republican with a 2-point lead over Gillum.
FAU BEPI also surveyed the U.S. Senate race, but found the Republican leading the Democratic incumbent, with Rick Scott up two points on U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
