A.G. Gancarski
A new survey by the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) shows that Florida Republicans are peeved about homeowners’ insurance.
One in 5 respondents say property insurance is the biggest issue they face, including 26% of those voters 65 years of age or older.
Insurance woes are followed by other issues that suggest Florida’s economy presents challenges for even GOP voters.
Housing costs are the primary problem for 16% of respondents, while 13% say the “economy/jobs/inflation” and 12% say property taxes.
The only other issue in double digits: immigration, which principally preoccupies 15% of respondents.
These numbers don’t surprise Polling Director Michael Binder.
“Housing costs, property taxes, and property insurance have emerged as leading concerns over the past couple of years,” Binder said. “This time around, to get a little more specific, we presented the three concerns as separate choices. If we group them all back together like we did back in February of this year, we’re up to 48% who chose one of those options, compared to 36% of registered Republicans in the spring.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who will end his second term next year, has focused heavily on the immigration issue. And Republicans are behind his Alligator Alcatraz, according to the poll, as 65% of them approve of the ad hoc detainment facility for illegal immigrants awaiting deportation, against 21% disapproval.
But the stickiness of the economic issues is the major takeaway from the issues plank of the poll.
DeSantis has talked up reforms in the property insurance sector, which he says is the “most complicated homeowner’s insurance market in the country, maybe in the world.”
In recent years, more private insurers have come into Florida, amid efforts to depopulate Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, which is the state’s insurer of last resort.
He’s also pushed a key policy proposal, thus far to no avail, to reduce or eliminate property taxes. The UNF poll also shows 63% of Republicans favor that happening.
To get these numbers, pollsters surveyed 797 active registered Republican voters from July 14 through July 22.
