Poll: Republicans, Democrats sharply divided on Session priorities

The partisan divide is strong in the Sunshine State, according to voter opinions on some of the most-watched bills of the 2024 Legislative Session.

Polling conducted by Sachs Media found Republicans were overwhelmingly supportive (74%) of an effort to teach K-12 students about the “horrors of communism” and instituting a ban on lab-grown meat (69%). By comparison, only 41% of Democrats believe kids need a crash course on Soviet genocide while around a quarter say meat should come from a butcher instead of a beaker.

Both proposals appear likely to hit the Governor’s desk this year. Both communism bills (HB 1349/SB 1264) are ready for floor votes and the Senate on Thursday passed its version of the cultivated meat ban (SB 1084)

Though it still had majority support, Republicans were comparatively lukewarm on a measure that would loosen labor laws for teenage workers, allowing them to work more hours a week and later into the night. Just over half (55%) of GOP voters said they approved of the plan. Only 29% of Democrats polled said the same.

Bipartisanship isn’t fully dead, however — majorities from both parties, as well as no-party voters, said they weren’t on board with a ban on currently legal hemp products.

“These bills clearly have legs within the legislative process, but it’s equally clear that many Floridians don’t share lawmakers’ enthusiasm,” said Karen Cyphers, Partner and Director of Research at Sachs Media. “For just one example, legislators are nearly unanimous in promoting significant restrictions in Florida’s hemp industry, even though fewer than 1 in 3 Floridians think it’s necessary.”

The survey also found broad voter support for measures that would provide parents more time to surrender an infant under the “Safe Haven” law (88%); enhance penalties against deported illegal immigrants who return and commit new crimes (86%); exempt new mothers from jury duty (85%); crack down on so-called “porch pirates” (82%); and revising how parents may exchange children in child custody cases (81%).

Jimmy Buffett, too, seems to transcend partisan politics. Sachs Media found three-quarters of those polled believe a stretch of A1A should be named after the iconic singer-songwriter. A bill doing just that (HB 91) has already cleared the House and is awaiting a floor vote in the Senate.