Democratic Florida gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum holds a knife-edge lead on Republican opponent Ron DeSantis almost one week after DeSantis urged Florida voters not to “monkey” up the election by casting a ballot for Gillum.
Gillum, Tallahassee’s mayor, has majority support among likely voters, according to a Quinnipiac Poll released Tuesday. In comparison, 47 percent back DeSantis, who represents Florida’s 6th Congressional District. A small sliver of likely voters remain undecided.
Both candidates have net positive favorable/unfavorable ratings, but more respondents who identified as white or Hispanic preferred DeSantis while an overwhelming majority of black voters stood behind Gillum.
The poll’s results follow Gillum imploring DeSantis on Sunday not to “weaponize” race as the pair compete for the governor’s mansion.
Gillum’s remarks Sunday were in response to a question about Florida voters receiving robocalls narrated by a person pretending to be Gillum in a black minstrel-style dialect, overlaid with jungle sounds.
The robocalls, in turn, were reported after DeSantis’ controversial use of the word “monkey,” which has historically been racially charged, in reference to the state’s potential first black governor.
Quinnipiac surveyed 785 likely voters in Florida between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3 via landlines and cellphones. The research has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
