FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ A new poll from Quinnipiac University has Democrat Andrew Gillum ahead of Republican Ron DeSantis by six points in Florida's governor's race.
Gillum leads 52 percent compared with 46 percent for DeSantis, a three percentage point drop from the polling firm's Sept. 26 poll for Gillum.
The numbers have some bad news for DeSantis. While Democratic and Republican voters have the expected lopsided support for their own party's candidate, independent voters back Gillum 57 percent compared with 39 percent for DeSantis.
"Looking inside the numbers of the governor's race between Mayor Andrew Gillum and former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, we see shining examples of the problems Republicans face this year, not just in Florida, but around the country," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
"The GOP has faced strong opposition from women and other anti-Trump voters. These defections have hurt GOP candidates around the country and made it difficult to attract the numbers of independent voters that are often major players in successful campaigns. Here in Florida, that has translated into an 18-point Gillum lead among independent voters."
Women supported Gillum 59 percent to 38 percent, while men supported DeSantis 54 percent to 44 percent. White voters also supported DeSantis 54 percent to 44 percent fro Gillum. White women supported Gillum, 50 percent to 47 percent for DeSantis, a lead that Brown called "even more problematic for the GOP and telling about Mayor Gillum's candidacy."
The widest disparity was not actually among political parties, but among African-Americans, who support Gillum 99 percent compared with 1 percent supporting DeSantis.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,161 likely voters in Florida from Oct. 17 to Oct. 21 using live interviewers randomly dialing cellphones and land lines. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent. Demographic groups may have a larger margin of error because the sample size is smaller.
