New Florida Chamber Statewide Poll Shows Florida Voters Bullish on Florida, Pessimistic about America
Inflation/Gas Prices Joins Jobs and the Economy and Education as Top Policy Priorities for Floridians
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 31, 2022) – The latest Florida Chamber statewide poll shows likely Florida voters believe Florida is headed in the right direction, while at the same time a majority of voters, more than 6 out of 10, believe the country is on the wrong track.
Voters in eight of Florida’s ten media markets believe Florida is headed in the right direction, with only two believing otherwise by a narrow margin: Miami-Fort Lauderdale (40:45) and Tampa-St.Pete (45:49).
“With Florida established as the 15th largest global economy, we have the momentum to continue building the brand of Florida throughout the world,” said Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson. “We’ve seen over the past few months just how important it is to ensure the right things happen to keep Florida, Florida and moving in the right direction.”
The Florida Chamber Statewide Poll Says:
Top Issues Facing Florida
- Jobs and the Economy
- Education
- Inflation & Gas Prices
- Female voters Top Issue is Jobs & the Economy
- Male voters Top Issue is Jobs & the Economy
- Republicans Top Issue is Jobs & the Economy
- Democrats Top Issue is tied between Education & the Environment
- NPAs Top Issue is Jobs & the Economy
Gubernatorial Head-to-Head
The Florida Chamber poll also found that Governor Ron DeSantis is in a strong position for reelection versus likely Democratic challengers. He continues to maintain a solid lead over all potential Democratic challengers heading into his re-election campaign.
Governor DeSantis enjoys an 11% lead over former Governor Charlie Crist, benefiting from 88% support from Republicans and 56% support from NPAs. DeSantis leads Crist among NPAs by 16%.
Governor DeSantis also enjoys a 10% lead over Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, benefiting from 88% support from Republicans and 54% support from NPAs. DeSantis leads Fried among NPAs by 16%.
Governor DeSantis enjoys a 15% lead over State Senator Annette Taddeo, benefiting from 89% support from Republicans and 55% support from NPAs. DeSantis leads Taddeo among NPAs by 19%.
Future of Work in Florida
The Florida Chamber poll shows Floridians are bullish on Florida as the best place for good paying jobs for the next generation of Floridians rather than any other state.
- 57% of voters say Florida provides better opportunities for the next generation than other states
- 63% of Male voters say Florida provides better opportunities for the next generation than other states
- 78% of Republicans say Florida provides better opportunities for the next generation than other states
- 50% of NPAs say Florida provides better opportunities for the next generation than other states
- 54% of voters 18 – 29 years old say Florida provides better opportunities for the next generation than other states
Future of Work Florida, a Florida Chamber initiative, is a vehicle to bring together Florida job creators, key industry leaders and partners to address the current talent crisis.
It is also creating awareness and interest in the careers of the future, the industries with growth potential, while changing the narrative among parents, students, educators and others that a skilled trade or technical career is a valuable path for many Floridians to gain employment, experience, competitive pay and a path to prosperity.
Florida Voter Registration Update
Republicans continued to expand their registration lead over Democrats in the latest Florida voter file update. As of the most recent update, Republicans hold a statewide advantage of 89,528 voters over Democrats among active registered voters, 5,135,377 Republicans to 5,045,879 Democrats, with NPA and other party registrants surpassing 4.1 million at 4,103,120. Month over month, this advantage for Republicans continues to increase by more than 10,000 voters per month, and when the next voter file update is released, it’s likely this Republican registration advantage will surpass the 100,000 mark.
Since the 2020 election, voter data from ChamberHub, the Florida Chamber’s exclusive voter file, also shows:
- The Democrat’s share of active registered voters has declined in every county in Florida
- Republican share of active registration has increased in 53 of 67 counties
- NPA registration share has increased in all but one (Gilchrist County) of Florida’s 67 counties
Florida Chamber Initiatives Heading into the 2022 Elections
The Florida Chamber leads initiatives such as the Florida Free Enterprise Fund, Florida Chamber Political Institute and the Florida Institute for Political Leadership, which all work to ensure we’re recruiting better candidates for Florida and helping them get elected. For more information about these initiatives, contact the Florida Chamber’s Vice President of Political Operations Nicholas Catroppo at ncatroppo@flchamber.com.
ABOUT THIS POLL: The Florida Chamber of Commerce political poll was conducted on March 18 – 28, 2022 by Cherry Communications during live telephone interviews of likely voters, and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent. The sample size included 237 Democrats, 243 Republicans and 120 Others for a total of 605 respondents statewide.
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