Republican poll finds Marco Rubio, Ron DeSantis leading 2022 Democratic opponents

Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio.

New polling released by a Republican political committee shows U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. Ron DeSantis in better-than-decent shape for reelection.

A VCreek/AMG poll shows Rubio up 42% to 38% against Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings in a hypothetical head-to-head. Demings, an Orlando Congresswoman, remains the most prominent Democrat challenging the second-term Republican Senator.

Of note, that’s within the poll’s 4.87% margin of error. But the poll also finds 15% are still undecided, indicating there’s plenty of “blue” and “strong blue” voters still on the fence. About 5% of those polled intend to vote for another candidate.

The polling outfit also tested Rubio against former U.S. Rep. Al Grayson, another Democrat seeking his party’s nomination. It found Rubio leading Grayson with a more decisive 44% to 32% margin, with 14% undecided and 10% saying they would vote for someone else.

While Rubio polls less than 50% against either Democrat, pollster J.D. Johannes says there is reason for Republican optimism, even if Rubio’s standing among his base has slipped in recent years.

“Rubio needs to solidify his standing among voters who model ‘Regular Red’ and expand his share of ‘Purple’ voters over the next 12 months to be in strong position heading into November 2022,” Johannes writes.

The same pollster also released results on the Governor’s race, pegging DeSantis against the top Democrats looking to oust him next year. Again, pollsters found the Republican with a consistent edge.

DeSantis leads Charlie Crist, a Democratic Congressman and former Republican Governor, 47% to 39%, with 12% undecided and 2% interested in another candidate.

Against Nikki Fried, Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner, DeSantis comes in at 48% to her 36%.

For Fried, that puts DeSantis outside the poll’s margin of error, while it leaves the Governor just inside of it against Crist. Again, the undecideds seem split among those voters deemed “purple,” “blue” or “strong blue.”

“This frame of reference indicates DeSantis’ base is still strongly aligned with him even through the turbulence of COVID,” Johannes writes.

And the poll notably finds good news for DeSantis in terms of his stance on President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates. The pollster shows 54% of voters do not favor a mandate, compared to 43% who do. About half of “purple” voters oppose them compared to more than 30% who support them and nearly 20% who are unsure.

On other issues, the pollster finds 61% of Florida voters rate the subjects “controlling inflation,” “stopping the increase in violent crime” and “controlling the high price of health insurance and prescriptions” as “very important.”

The polls were paid for by Americas PAC, which supports Republican candidates nationwide.