Casey DeSantis enjoys higher approval ratings than Byron Donalds in new poll

First Lady Casey DeSantis hasn’t announced whether she will run for Governor. But new polling shows she is more popular with Florida voters than U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, weeks after he announced his bid.

A Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy survey shows 53% of voters in the state have a favorable opinion of DeSantis, while only 9% have an unfavorable opinion. The numbers roll in as DeSantis explores a potential run to succeed her husband, Ron DeSantis, as Florida Governor.

Both her positive and negative numbers are higher than those of Donalds. The poll shows just 48% have a favorable opinion of the Congressman, while 6% have an unfavorable view.

The biggest gap between the two Republicans comes down to name recognition. That’s confirmed by the fact that 46% of voters have no opinion about Donalds, a Naples Republican who has only run for office in Southwest Florida. By comparison, just 38% of voters have no opinion on Casey DeSantis, who has never appeared on the ballot at all.

Pollsters asked 625 registered voters around the state about their opinion of both gubernatorial contenders, surveying respondents from March 11 to 15. A polling memo reports a 4-percentage-point margin of error.

The same poll notably showed that Gov. DeSantis still enjoys the support of a majority of Florida voters. Only 5% of voters said they were not sure how they felt about the sitting Governor.

That shows voters are making a differentiation, and not all are simply conflating the First Lady’s candidacy as an extension of the current administration.

Donalds already boasts an endorsement from President Donald Trump, who also has positive job approval ratings with a majority of Floridians, though not as high as the Governor’s.

But it also shows both candidates with room to grow in name recognition, and less than 10% of voters already expressing disapproval with their candidacies.

FL325Poll by Jacob Ogles on Scribd

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