Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ approval rating has taken another tumble, a new poll shows.
The Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative found DeSantis with 43% support among Florida voters. The same number said they disapproved of the Governor’s job performance, giving him a net-zero approval rating.
It’s a major shift on each side of the equation.
DeSantis’ approval rating in FAU’s new poll is 19 points lower than it was in May, when the same pollster found him above water 51-32.
A further illustration of his precipitous slide: In March, before the pandemic had fully taken root, 54% of voters were behind him while just 20% disapproved.
Notably, more Florida voters approve of the President than the Governor — an unimaginable occurrence six months ago, when DeSantis enjoyed broad support even among Democrats.
In the same poll, FAU found 47% of Florida voters approved of Donald Trump while 49% disapproved. While Trump leads DeSantis by 4 points in raw support, his minus-2 approval rating puts him behind the Governor.
The survey of 631 registered Florida voters was conducted Sept. 11-12. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 660,946 FL residents (+2,743 since Monday)
— 7,900 Non-FL residents (+373 since Monday)
Origin:
— 5,239 Travel related
— 232,035 Contact with a confirmed case
— 5,534 Both
— 418,138 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 41,654 in FL
Deaths:
— 12946 in FL
Evening Reads
“Donald Trump’s and Ron DeSantis’ alternative reality: If you call yourself a ‘great environmentalist’ you are one” via Diane Roberts of the Florida Phoenix
“FAU poll shows Trump tightening race in Florida against Joe Biden” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics
“Marco Rubio says Biden economic plan would ensure ‘Chinese dominance’” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“‘Work like the devil’: Biden visiting Florida to woo Latinos” via Will Weissert and Alexandra Jaffe of The Associated Press
“Trump campaign pouring more into Florida, other swing states” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics
“In Tampa, Biden vows to military ‘I’ll always have your back’” via Steve Contorno, Ileana Najarro and Josh Solomon of the Tampa Bay Times
“Roiled Rick Scott rails against rioters” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Coronavirus kills far more Hispanic and Black children than White youths, CDC study finds” via William Wan of The Washington Post
“A job that isn’t hard to get in a pandemic: Swindlers’ helper” via Nathaniel Popper of The New York Times
“Miami Democrat latest target of attack mailer aimed at state party’s taking PPP loan” via Samantha J. Gross of the Miami Herald
“Florida voters much more negative about DeSantis performance. Pandemic and political polarization have eaten away his early high approval ratings” via Anthony Man of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“CFO Jimmy Patronis mobilizes search and rescue teams as Hurricane Sally crawls toward Gulf Coast” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics
“New Florida pandemic jobless claims fall to 60,000 last week” via Drew Dixon of Florida Politics
“Stop the secrecy on COVID-19 discussions, mayors tell Broward County” via Lisa J. Huriash of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“1,900 SeaWorld employees are laid off in latest cuts for the company” via Gabrielle Russon of the Orlando Sentinel
“Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to Pinellas: Don’t scrap masks. To bar owners? Watch it.” via Charlie Frago of the Tampa Bay Times
Quote of the Day
“I don’t care how much Michael Bloomberg tries to sell. It’s a bad ad.” — U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, on Bloomberg’s spending $100 million to help Biden win Florida.
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