Floridians overwhelmingly support Ron DeSantis’ decision to issue a statewide stay-at-home order

Nearly nine out of 10 Floridians support Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to issue a statewide stay-at-home order, according to the most recent survey by St. Pete Polls, commissioned by Florida Politics.

Nearly 86% of respondents said they supported the decision while only 6% said they disagreed. Another 8% were unsure.

That support comes as more than nine in 10 are worried about the virus. Nearly 77% of respondents said they were very worried, up from 63% two weeks ago. Another 18% said they were somewhat worried while just 8% said they were not very worried, down from 11%.

Trust in DeSantis dropped sharply since the same question was asked two weeks ago. Nearly 29% of respondents said they trusted DeSantis “not very much” compared with just 19% in the previous poll. Meanwhile, only 40% showed significant trust in the Governor, down from 45% two weeks ago.

The poll was taken after DeSantis issued a much called-for statewide stay-at-home order, indicating that the level of trust is likely the result of broad concerns with the virus. Although, DeSantis has faced criticism for delaying the order rather than issuing it earlier as other states did.

He was also criticized for conflating the order with an update hours after it was announced Wednesday. The move, in writing, preempts local orders whether they are more or less restrictive than the Governor’s and the order specifically carves out religious ceremonies as an “essential service,” something many have decried as a dangerous exception.

Trust in President Donald Trump is also down, but not as drastically as DeSantis, indicating support for the President might be more unconditional than it is for the Governor.

More than 42% of respondents showed deep distrust in Trump, up from 40% two weeks ago. Strong support dropped from 43% to 42%.

But Democrats distrust both the Governor and the President far less than Republicans. More than 41% said they distrust DeSantis “very much” while only 14% of Republicans answered the same. Meanwhile, only 23% of Democrats said they trusted the Governor “very much) compared to 58% of Republicans.

The difference is even starker for Trump’s approval. Just 17% of Democrats offered the highest level of Trust for the President compared to 69% of Republicans. On the other side of that, nearly as 67% of Democrats didn’t trust Trump compared to just 17 % of Republicans.

Neither Republican leader saw much of a difference in polling based on gender, and the difference among age demographics was negligible for Trump. However, DeSantis had about 10 points higher support from respondents 70 and up compared to the youngest demographic spanning ages 18-29.

Fewer than half of respondents report a change in their mental health because of the virus. A total of 41% reported a negative shift in mental wellbeing, with just less than 30% reporting slightly worse and about 12% reporting much worse mental health. Only 2% each reported feeling “a little better” or “much better.” Unchanged mental health status accounted for 54% of respondents.

Perceptions of media coverage of the pandemic is also slightly improving with 25% still thinking coverage is exaggerated, down from 30% two weeks ago. More than 60% find coverage “adequate” with 15% thinking it’s inadequate.

The poll was conducted Thursday and Friday among 4,354 Floridians with a 1.5% margin of error at a 95% confidence level. The poll was weighted by political party, race, age, gender and media market demographics.