Approval ratings for President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis are falling into the red, according to a new survey.
The Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI) now shows DeSantis with a -5 approval rating. That’s a 5-point drop from last month and a nearly 25-point drop in the past five months. The May version of the same poll had DeSantis with a +19 approval rating.
The FAU BEPI’s newest poll showed 43% of Floridians approve of the Governor, while 48% disapprove.
Trump’s approval rating sits at 44% while a majority of Floridians — 51% — disapprove of his performance as President. That’s a -7 rating and represents a 5-point drop from his September numbers.
The President’s overall approval ratings track nearly perfectly with his ratings on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just 44% of voters said Trump’s response to the outbreak was “good” or “excellent.” Conversely, 50% of voters rated his response as “poor” or “terrible.”
DeSantis’ downslide, too, largely mirrors the surge in cases seen throughout Florida during the late spring and early summer.
As DeSantis sat at a +19 approval rating in May, Florida’s COVID-19 numbers were largely encouraging. After the state began to open in May, those numbers shot upward by June and remained high through July and August.
Infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths have since declined, and Florida is once again moving to reopen — this time even more so than in May. While a similar surge has not yet followed, voters still seem to be losing confidence in the Governor, according to the FAU BEPI survey.
DeSantis was seen appearing alongside Trump at a Monday rally in Sanford which flew in the face of public health guidelines, which recommend against large crowds. At one point, DeSantis walked alongside the crowd, high-fiving multiple attendees.
The FAU BEPI Survey ran from Oct. 9-10 and sampled 644 likely Florida voters. It has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.
This article first appeared at Florida Politics.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter.
