New poll: Hispanics in Florida supporting DeSantis over Crist

Hispanics in Florida are backing Gov. Ron DeSantis over his Democratic challenger and former Republican governor Charlie Crist, according to a new Telemundo/LX News poll.

Among 625 registered Hispanic voters surveyed, 51% said they were likely to vote for DeSantis, 44% for Crist. The majority, 56%, also said they approve of how DeSantis is doing his job, compared to 41% who said they didn’t.

The bilingual survey was conducted by Jacksonville-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy by telephone between Oct. 17 and 22. All registered voters contacted said they were likely to vote in the November general election, the company said. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4%.

DeSantis had the highest support from voters in the Tampa Bay area of 54% compared to Crist’s 39%. Among voters in South Florida, 50% are backing DeSantis compared to 46% backing Crist. More voters in Central Florida, 49%, backed Crist compared to 44% who backed DeSantis.

More men surveyed expressed support for DeSantis than for Crist, by a margin of 54% to 40%. Women are evenly split with 48% expressing support for each.

The overwhelming majority of Cuban-Americans back DeSantis, 72%, compared to 22% who back Crist. The majority of Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics expressed greater support for Crist than DeSantis, by a margin of 59% to 37% and 53% to 43%, respectively.

The majority of Hispanic voters born in another country expressed support for DeSantis – 56% compared to 40% expressing support for Crist. Those born in America favored DeSantis slightly more than those favoring Crist by a margin of 48% to 47%.

DeSantis has reached a broader base, drawing support from the majority of Republicans (95%) and Independents (56%). Crist has support from Democrats (92%) and a minority of Independents (34%).

The majority of Hispanic voters, 56%, said they approve of DeSantis’ job performance compared to 41% who said they disapprove. DeSantis received over 50% support from residents living in all three regions surveyed of Central Florida, Tampa Bay and Southeast Florida. The majority of those who weren’t born in the US (60%) and of Cuban or other descent, also backed DeSantis.

The overwhelming majority approved of DeSantis’ policy of keeping Florida businesses open during the pandemic (64%), of addressing Florida’ housing and insurance challenges (52%) and Hurricane Ian recovery efforts (73%).

Of those Hispanic voters polled, 38% were Democrats, 35% were Republicans (35%) and 27% were Independents.