DeSantis And Trump Would Defeat Biden in Florida: Poll

FLORIDA — If the presidential election were held again in the Sunshine State, Joe Biden would lose, according to a new poll.

Instead, more than half of Florida voters would choose Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024, if he were the Republican nominee, over President Biden, a new Suffolk University/USA TODAY network poll found.

The poll surveyed 500 Florida voters likely to cast their ballot in the midterm elections and found that 52 percent preferred DeSantis. Forty-four percent favored Biden for a second term in office.

The poll also found that Florida voters would rather have former President Donald Trump back in office over Biden (47%-44%) in what appears to be a tighter matchup.

“Ironically, this 2024 Florida case study could be the narrative of the 2022 midterms: party nominees, who are strong within their party but less popular among the general electorate, could win their respective party primaries but falter in the general election,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston, said in news release.

According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, just 41 percent of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s job performance, which is down slightly from September (44 percent) and substantially lower than last April (59 percent).

Biden’s low approval ratings not only indicate vulnerability in the 2024 general election in Florida, but also in a Democratic primary in that state, the Suffolk University Political Research Center said.

In a hypothetical Democratic primary matchup between former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Biden, Clinton edges Biden 46-43 percent. Both DeSantis and Trump would defeat Clinton by 13 and 7 points, respectively.

The Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll has a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points and a 95 percent level of confidence. To read the full report, click here.