New Florida Chamber Statewide Poll Shows Voters Believe Florida Heading in the Right Direction
The Economy and COVID Remain Top Concerns
The latest Florida Chamber statewide poll shows likely Florida voters believe Florida is headed in the right direction, while recent public polls show less than a third of voters believe the country is headed in the right direction.
“Florida is moving in the right direction and we need to keep the momentum going,” said Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson. “As we just recently addressed Florida’s future at our Florida Chamber Foundation Annual Meeting and Future of Florida Forum, there’s no better time to unite the business community for good to ensure the right things continue to happen.”
Our new statewide issue poll shows nearly all Florida voters support Florida’s local businesses, with 92% of those polled expressing confidence in local businesses. From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida’s business community led the way in balancing safety protections for Floridians, with the need to keep our economy strong. Aided by the leadership exhibited by Governor DeSantis and over two-thirds of the Florida Legislature in providing COVID-19 liability protections to local businesses last session, Florida has outpaced the nation by creating over 1 million jobs since last March and 84,000 of the 192,000 jobs created nationwide last month. With nearly one thousand new residents moving to Florida each day, and far more expected by 2030, Florida still needs to create nearly 2 million jobs by 2030.
Moreover, to continue the recovery of Florida’s tourism industry, Floridians strongly approve of the continued efforts of Visit Florida by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. Support for Visit Florida crosses party lines, with a majority of Republicans, Democrats, and NPAs in agreement.
Gubernatorial Head-to-Head
The Florida Chamber poll also found that Governor Ron DeSantis has a 7% lead over Congressman Charlie Crist, and a 9% lead over Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.
Florida Likely Voters Believe
Top 3 Issues Facing Florida
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- Jobs and the Economy
- COVID-19 Issues
- Education
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- Female Voters Top Issue is COVID-19
- Male Voters Top Issue is Jobs & the Economy
- Republicans Top Issue is Jobs & the Economy
- Democrats Top Issue is COVID-19
- NPA’s Top Issues shows Jobs & the Economy & COVID-19 are Tied
- Only 1 Florida Media Market, Tallahassee, doesn’t rank Jobs & the Economy as a top 5 issue
Right Direction/Wrong Track is 48:42
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- Only voters in the Tallahassee and Gainesville media markets say Florida is on the wrong track
- Male Voters say Florida is heading in the right direction
- Female Voters say Florida is off on the wrong track
- Hispanic voters by 57-31 margin believe Florida is heading in the right direction
Florida Voter Registration Update
When looking ahead to the 2022 election, our latest ChamberHub data shows Florida has almost 14.3 million registered voters. Democrats’ lead over Republicans has fallen to 12,039 registered voters, the lowest gap in modern history. Also, in 2021, new NPA registrations have outpaced voter registrations for either major party.
“Keeping Florida, Florida means electing the right people. In 2022, all 160 members of the Florida Legislature are up for election and the Florida Chamber’s Political Institute is recruiting pro-business candidates who want to keep Florida’s economic momentum. The Governor and Cabinet are also on the ballot and we expect to be very engaged in these races as well,” said A. Duda & Sons, Inc. Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer, and Florida Chamber Political Council Chair Tracy Duda Chapman.
Florida Chamber Initiatives Heading into 2022 and Redistricting
The Florida Chamber of Commerce leads initiatives such as the Florida Free Enterprise Fund, the Florida Chamber Political Institute and the Florida Institute for Political Leadership which all work to ensure we’re recruiting better candidates for Florida (www.fipl.org). 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 October 17 – 25, 2021 by Cherry Communications during live telephone interviews of likely voters, and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent. The sample size included 246 Democrats, 254 Republicans and 108 Others for a total of 608 respondents statewide.
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Established in 1916 as Florida’s first statewide business advocacy organization, the Florida Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business and the state’s largest federation of employers, chambers of commerce and associations aggressively representing small and large businesses from every industry and every region. The Florida Chamber works within all branches of government to affect those changes set forth in the annual Florida Business Agenda, and which are seen as critical to secure Florida’s future. The Florida Chamber works closely with its Florida Political Operations and the Florida Chamber Foundation. Visit www.FloridaChamber.com for more information.