Ron DeSantis Soars in Approval and Competitiveness

New polling data released Tuesday shows a major jump in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ job approval ratings put him in a strong position against hypothetical match ups against the two best-known possible Democratic challengers in 2022. The governor’s statewide approval rating has increased by a full eight points since July 2020, but is still down by nine points since March 2019, at the beginning of his term. DeSantis holds comfortable leads over Democrats Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist, his two most high-profile potential challengers for reelection in 2022, the poll found. His disapproval rating has also dropped 7 points from 49% to 42%. A second poll pits DeSantis against either Florida Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) or U.S. Congressman and former Florida Governor Charlie Crist (D). The poll shows the incumbent governor with a nine-point lead over Fried, the only Democrat holding statewide office in Florida. Gov. DeSantis has an 11 point lead over Crist, Florida’s governor from 2007 to 2011. While voters are split along predictable party lines, DeSantis holds a wide advantage among independent voters, beating both potential Democratic challengers by approximately thirty points. The Mason-Dixon poll’s margin of error is no more than four percentage points.

This new piece of data now is stopped by even more surprising data suggesting Former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are the two front-runners in a new poll of potential 2024 Republican candidates that does not include former President Trump. A new survey obtained by The Hill from GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio, who polled for Trump’s 2020 campaign, shows Pence at 19 percent and DeSantis at 17 percent support among GOP primary voters in a potential nominating contest that does not include Trump. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is the only other contender to break double digits in the survey with 13 percent. However, when Trump is thrown into the equation, they find themselves in a distant second and third place. When the former president is taken into account, Trump gets 51 percent support, trailed by Pence at 9 percent and DeSantis at 7 percent.