Florida Influencer Poll: Governor’s pandemic response gets middling grade

With protests and the Republican National Convention heading to Jacksonville snatching headlines, the coronavirus pandemic has taken a back seat, but it’s not over.

The past week saw Florida set some grim records — a weeklong streak of 1,000-plus new cases a day and a daily record in new infections.

Maybe it’s a second wave, maybe it’s a side effect of testing volume, maybe it’s a consequence of reopening. It could even be a statistical anomaly.

No matter the cause, a small plurality of Florida Influencers said there’s no reason to roll back from Phase Two of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ strategy.

A Florida Politics’ poll found 38% say the Governor should delay further reopening until the coronavirus pandemic settles down a bit, while 45% say the recent spike shouldn’t factor in at all.

Democrats, by a 66% to 18% margin, were more likely to say the former. Republicans felt the opposite, with 65% recommending the administration stay the course and 19% saying it’d be wise to slow it down a tad.

Though they were in the minority, many Influencers said the Governor’s handling of the spike could have electoral implications.

“News cases are spiking. If the Governor doesn’t take immediate steps to turn those numbers around the crisis will extend well into the fall and this will ensure POTUS does not win reelection in Florida,” one said.

Another was more pessimistic, “Not sure it matters what DeSantis does on the opening of the State now. He can’t walk back these phases and the COVID cases are going to increase. In other words, Florida is f*****.”

NPAs were more sided with Republicans 42%-17%, though a considerable balance was uncertain, though some explained their hesitance by a lack of information rather than a lack of decisiveness.

“I’ve answered unsure to the COVID-19 questions, not because I’m an uncertain person, but because DeSantis is withholding information. He’s recalcitrant, defensive and he weighs his public and political image against the facts of this virus — a big no-no in times of crisis. The way to message during a crisis is with radical transparency. We’re not getting all the facts from this Governor,” one Influencer said. “DeSantis might be right and he’s my guy but his communications and attitude has just been subpar and petty.”

Unsurprisingly, there was an equally strong correlation between party affiliation and how Influencers graded the DeSantis administration’s pandemic response.

Nearly three-quarters of Republicans said the Governor had done either a “good” or “excellent” job so far. Likewise, 84% of Democrats said DeSantis had done a “fair” or “poor” job managing the crisis.

To Democrats, the spike is consequence of the state reopening too soon, with 59% saying DeSantis jumped the gun. Just 6% of Republicans took that stance.

“T-minus 14 days until another spike of COVID infections that Republicans will blame on protestors rather than every Karen going to get her nails did,” one Influencer said.

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The Influencers who took part in this survey: Tom Alte,  Jason Altmire,  Phil Ammann,  Allison Aubuchon,  Roger Austin,  Ashley Bauman,  Geoffrey Becker,  Wayne Bertsch,  Alex Bickley,  Taylor Biehl,  Barney Bishop,  Samantha Blair,  Katie Bohnett,  Ron Book,  Reggie Cardozo,  Bill Carlson,  Kevin Cate,  James Chan,  Clayton Clemens,  Brad Coker,  Rachel Cone,  Josh Cooper,  Gus Corbella,  Kevin Craig,  Karen Cyphers,  Jim Daughton,  Claudia Davant,  Hayden Dempsey,  Pablo Diaz,  Victor DiMaio,  Andrew Dolberg,  Charles Dudley,  Pete Dunbar,  Barry Edwards,  Alia Faraj-Johnson,  Damien Filer,  Marty Fiorentino,  Matt Florell,  Shawn Foster,  Towson Fraser,  Don Gaetz,  Steve Geller,  Adam Giery,  Julia Gill Woodward,  Jennifer Green,  Joel Greenberg,  Marion Hammer,  Nick Hansen,  Abel Harding,  Rich Heffley,  Tasi Hogan,  Jim Horne,  Nick Janovsky,  Eric Johnson,  Jeff Johnson,  Christina Johnson,  Marva Johnson,  Stafford Jones,  Todd Josko,  Eric Jotkoff,  Fred Karlinsky,  Joshua Karp,  Colin Kirkland,  John Konkus,  Jeff Kottkamp,  Beth Lerner,  McKinley Lewis,  Karis Lockhart,  Shannon Love,  John Lux,  Beth Matuga,  Clarence McKee,  Kathy Mears,  Ketchel Micah,  Ed Moore,  Dan Newman,  Tim Nungesser,  Sal Nuzzo,  Rhett O’Doski,  Rick Oppenheim,  Meredith ORourke,  Edie Ousley,  Jenna Paladino,  Alex Patton,  Darryl Paulson,  Anthony Pedicini,  Juan Penalosa,  Fred Piccolo,  Ron Pierce,  Noah Pransky,  Cissy Proctor,  Orlando Pryor,  Bert Ralston,  Foyt Ralston,  David Ramba,  Marc Reichelderfer,  Darren Richards,  Jim Rimes,  Franco Ripple,  Stephanie Rosendorf-Diaz,  Evan Ross,  Scott Ross,  Ashley Ross,  Jason Roth,  Elnatan Rudolph,  Andrew Rutledge,  Ron Sachs,  Meagan Salisbury,  April Schiff,  Pierce Schuessler,  Jack Seiler,  Stephen Shiver,  Steve Simonides,  Alex Sink,  Patrick Slevin,  Tim Stapleton,  Mac Stipanovich,  Eileen Stuart,  Sarah Suskey,  Kevin Sweeny,  Allison Tant,  Cory Tilley,  Christian Ulvert,  Jenn Ungru,  Steve Vancore,  Ashley Walker,  Nancy Watkins,  Screven Watson,  Christian Weiss,  Doug Wheeler,  Susie Wiles,  Gregory Wilson,  Rick Wilson,  Joe York,  Christian Ziegler.