FAU Poll: Florida's Republicans Pick Trump Over DeSantis

A majority of Florida's registered Republican voters say they support former President Donald Trump as the 2024 GOP presidential nominee over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a new poll conducted by Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research.

The poll of 1,081 registered voters showed that 69% of them said they support Trump, and another 18% said they somewhat support him, the results of the poll completed in April and released this week showed.

In addition, the poll showed that Trump would defeat DeSantis by a significant margin if the primary was held when the survey was taken, with 59% choosing Trump and 31% picking DeSantis

"Former President Trump continues to be a strong candidate for the Republican nomination and his support appears durable and consistent," Kevin Wagner, a professor of political science at FAU, commented.

The poll also showed that Trump and DeSantis remain top choices for a potential GOP primary win, with 45% of the voters polled picking DeSantis as their second choice for the nominee, compared with 23% choosing Trump as the second choice.

"So far, none of the other candidates are close, and it looks like a two-man race," said Luzmarina Garcia, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at FAU. "However, even this early in the race, the vast majority of Republican respondents indicated that they had made up their minds for a presidential candidate."

The poll further showed regional and generational divides among Republican voters:

Trump wins decisively against DeSantis in the Tampa Bay area (69% for Trump vs. 22% for DeSantis).
Southwest Florida went 80% for Trump vs. 7% for DeSantis.
Palm Beach County voters picked Trump by 65% to 33% for DeSantis.
Trump and DeSantis tied in northwest Florida at 43%
Trump netted 66% of support among voters ages 50-64 and 40% with voters ages 18-34.

Meanwhile, voters said the economy, immigration, and abortion are the major concerns for Florida voters, with 38% saying the economy, 18% saying inflation, and 16% citing abortion.

Party affiliation, though, made a difference in how the issues were ranked:

People who plan to vote Republican: Economy, 51%; immigration, 28%.
People planning to vote Democrat: Abortion, 32%; the economy, 21%.
Undecided voters: Economy, 43%; immigration, 10%.

Meanwhile, those polled said cable-news sources remain a popular source of political news, at 40%, but the poll showed a continued reliance on online media, with 13% saying they turn to social feeds, while 19% said they turned to other blogs and websites for political news."

The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus three percentage points at the 95% confidence level.