DeSantis holds 11-point lead over Crist in Florida: poll

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is leading Democrat Charlie Crist by 11 points in race for the governor’s mansion in the Sunshine State, according to a poll released on Wednesday.

The Mason-Dixon Florida poll found that 52 percent of likely voters supported DeSantis, compared to the 41 percent who backed Crist, a former governor and U.S. representative.

DeSantis also had stronger support from his own party, with 92 percent of Republicans saying they would back the incumbent governor. Fewer Democrats, 84 percent, said they would support Crist, who was a Republican when he last served as governor.

DeSantis leads Crist in every area of the state except for southeast Florida, which the pollsters noted is traditionally Democratic. DeSantis also led Crist among independents, as well as men, white voters and voters over the age of 50, the poll found.

DeSantis’s approval rating sits at 55 percent. However, the poll noted that this will be tested by his response to Hurricane Ian, which devastated the state last week. The death toll from the storm, which made landfall near Fort Myers as a Category 4 hurricane, has now surpassed 100 as searches continue.

DeSantis’s fellow statewide GOP candidates also held substantial leads over their Democratic opponents, the poll found. The Republican candidates for attorney general, chief financial officer and commissioner of agriculture all led their Democratic rivals by at least 10 points.

The Mason-Dixon poll was conducted Sept. 26-28 with 800 registered Florida voters and had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.