‘Well above water’: Donna Deegan’s approval rating riding high in UNF poll

New polling from the University of North Florida offers good news for Jacksonville’s new Mayor, albeit with a caveat.

In the “Jax Speaks” survey from the UNF Public Opinion Research Lab, Democrat Donna Deegan enjoys a 47% approval rating against a 14% disapproval rating.

Meanwhile, 36% of respondents don’t yet know how they feel about Deegan’s job performance, while 4% refused to answer.

“Inside her first 100 days in office, Mayor Deegan’s approval is 32 percentage points higher than her disapproval, putting her well above water, even if a sizable group of voters aren’t sure yet,” pollster Michael Binder stated.

Unsurprisingly, Deegan is resoundingly popular with Democrats, with 66% approval against 6% disapproval. She’s also well positioned with NPAs, with 44% approval against 12% disapproval. And with Republicans, a group that underperformed for her May opponent, she has 27% approval against 27% disapproval.

As the party splits suggest, Deegan is above water with every cohort. Her highest disapproval (19%) is among people who attended college, but she has 45% approval among them.

Notes on methodology: “The UNF PORL Jax Speaks Poll was conducted from Sept. 12 to 15, 2023, by the Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) at the University of North Florida. It consists of a sample of 511 registered voters in Duval County. The sampling frame was sourced from the Florida voter file. To ensure a representative sample of registered voters, the sample was stratified into six geographical regions based on State House of Representatives District, and quotas were placed on each.”