Ron DeSantis Absolutely Trounces Democratic Opponents in New Poll, Showing How Wildly Popular He Is

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received good news recently regarding his reelection hopes. A recent poll conducted by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute shows the rising Republican star far ahead of his Democratic opponents.

2022 #FLGov General Election Poll:

Ron DeSantis (R-Inc) 49% (+16)
Charlie Crist (D) 33%
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Ron DeSantis (R-Inc) 49% (+19)
Annette Taddeo (D) 30%
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Ron DeSantis (R-Inc) 51% (+24)
Nikki Fried (D) 27% @SaintLeoPolls ~ 500 LV ~ 2/28-3/12https://t.co/0LDWYZjwTa

— PollTracker (@PollTrackerUSA) March 30, 2022

DeSantis holds a 16-percentage point lead over Charlie Crist–with DeSantis garnering 49% and Crist earning 33%. 

Crist has a history of switching parties. Before 2010, Crist was a Republican. Then, from 2010 to 2012, Crist was an independent. In 2012, Crist finally decided to call the Democratic Party his home. 

Crist previously served as the Governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011. He previously ran against Marco Rubio in the 2010 Florida Senate race–garnering 29.7% of the vote. Crist also previously challenged then-Republican Governor Rick Scott–now Senator for Florida–in the 2014 Governor race. He lost to Scott with 47.1% of the vote. 

Crist will be stepping away from his recent stint as the US Congressman for Florida’s 13th Congressional District–a position that he has held for nearly 6 years. Crist’s seat is being targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee and is seen as a potential Republican pickup for the 2022 midterm election cycle.

DeSantis also holds a 19-percentage point lead over Democratic State Senator Annette Taddeo–with DeSantis garnering 49% and Toddeo earning 30%.

Annette Taddeo, a Democratic State Senator for Florida’s 40th District, previously served as Crist’s running mate in the 2014 gubernatorial election. 

Finally, DeSantis holds a whopping 24 percentage point lead over Nikki Fried–with DeSantis garnering 51% and Fried garnering 27%. 

Fried is the Commissioner of Agriculture for Florida–the lone statewide elected Democrat. She narrowly defeated Republican Florida State Representative Matt Caldwell in 2018 with 50.04% of the vote.

Before running for office in 2018, Fried served as a public defender and marijuana legalization advocate.

However, which of these three candidates will be the Democrat’s sacrificial lamb to Governor DeSantis? Well, most polling has shown that Former Governor Charlie Crist is leading the field of Democrats.

The most recent polling for the Democratic primary shows Crist leading the pack with 27%, followed by Fried with 19%, and Taddeo with 4%. 44% of respondents are undecided. The primary will take place on August 23rd, 2022. 

Political forecasting pundits such as The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rate the 2022 Florida Gubernatorial Race as “Likely Republican.” Not only that but registered Republicans in Florida outnumber Democrats by 100,000 voters. 

With these factors coupled with the Republican-favored national environment, we can expect Republicans–including DeSantis–to do very well this November. However, polls are not everything; we must come out in droves to vote this November.