Most in new Florida poll disapprove of Gaetz’s performance

More than half of likely voters in Florida disapprove of Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R) performance while in Congress, according to poll results released Wednesday.

The survey, conducted by Mainstreet Research and Florida Atlantic University, found that 46 percent of respondents “strongly disapprove” and 11 percent “somewhat disapprove” of Gaetz’s job performance.

On the other side, 12 percent of respondents said they “strongly approve” and 9 percent said they somewhat approve of the job the Republican lawmaker has done while in office.

About 14 percent of voters checked the “don’t know” category, and 8 percent said they neither approved nor disapproved of his performance.

Gaetz, who represents Florida’s 1st Congressional District, has been at the center of controversy this year.

He began the year by voting for former President Trump in the House Speakership election, protesting the party’s choice to go with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and sending the House toward a 15-vote session to elect McCarthy.

The two sparred over the debt ceiling in the spring, with Gaetz saying McCarthy wasn’t following up on promises made in his January election.

Gaetz ultimately introduced a motion for the then-Speaker to vacate the leadership role in early October, which led to the historic ousting of McCarthy and sent the House into chaos for weeks before Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected to the position.

Wednesday’s survey also found that male and nonbinary respondents were more likely to approve of Gaetz’s performance than female voters. Women were more undecided on the issue, with 13.6 percent saying they neither approve nor disapprove of his performance, compared with 3.2 percent of male respondents.

Gaetz saw the highest disapproval from voters aged 50 and older. More than half of respondents in both the 50-64 and 65 and older age ranges disapproved of the lawmaker’s performance in Congress.

He saw some of the highest disapproval ratings from the Orlando, Fla., region — but earned the highest approval rating from his constituents in the state’s northwest region.

Almost half, 49.4 percent, of white respondents said they strongly disapprove of his performance, while 42.5 percent of Black voters said the same.

Voters who made more than $100,000 a year were more likely to say they don’t approve of his performance than respondents who make less than six figures annually, the survey found.

Unsurprisingly, Democrats were more likely to say they don’t approve of Gaetz’s work in the House.

Seventy-six percent of registered Democrats said they strongly disapprove of his performance, while 20 percent of registered Republicans said the same. Independent voters were split; 47 percent said they strongly disapprove.

The Hill has reached out to Gaetz’s office for comment.

The survey was conducted from Oct. 27 to Nov. 11 among 946 adults in Florida. It has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.