DeSantis has 11-point lead over Democrat challenger Crist in Florida governor race

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis maintains an 11-point lead over his Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, as he grapples with the impact of Hurricane Ian.

The Mason-Dixon poll, which Florida Politics obtained, surveyed 800 registered and likely voters and found that 52% of them backed DeSantis, compared to 41% for Crist. The double digit lead puts the current Florida governor well outside of the survey's +/- 3.5% margin of error.

The Republican currently holds a 55% job approval rating. That figure comes amid the destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, which has been one of the deadliest in the state's history. 

Crist, a former Republican governor of the state himself, never managed a comparable hurricane disaster relief, the pollster noted, observing that DeSantis will be ever present in the media in the lead up to the election while Crist has no personal experience with such a disaster on which to base any criticism of his rival.

"DeSantis is going to be Governor Hurricane for the next couple weeks," pollster Brad Coker said. "The disadvantage Crist has is two-fold: he's completely out of the news and he never managed a hurricane so he can't stand up and point to what he did. So Crist is totally, totally defanged."