A Quinnipiac poll has President Joe Biden 13 points underwater in the state of Florida, while GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio all enjoy positive approval ratings.
Biden only has 40% approval in the Sunshine State, with 53% disapproving of his job as president so far. DeSantis enjoys a slim positive margin in approval rating (47%-45%) and in voters who think he should be reelected (48%-45%). Scott’s approval rating is positive by 2 points. Rubio’s is positive by 11.
This poll is made even more notable by the fact that Quinnipiac has underestimated Republican support in Florida in the last two election cycles. In 2020, the polling outfit had Biden up 11 points over Trump in the state in October and 5 points ahead of Trump the day before the election. Trump went on to win by more than 3 points.
Similarly, in 2018, Quinnipiac had both Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum ahead of DeSantis and former Sen. Bill Nelson ahead of Scott by 7 points just one day before the election. DeSantis and Scott obviously went on to win those races.
This is another indicator that the midterm elections will be rough for Biden and the Democratic Party. DeSantis and Rubio are up for reelection next year, with DeSantis likely to face a mediocre challenger. Democratic Rep. Val Demings provides a tougher challenge for Rubio, but he has the lowest disapproval rating of Florida’s three top Republicans and cruised to reelection in 2016.
Biden’s Afghanistan catastrophe highlights the worst themes of his presidency so far, as his incompetence and unwillingness to face questions about his mistakes have been put on full display. Combine that with Florida, once considered a swing state, moving clearly toward the GOP, and the 2022 forecast for Florida Democrats isn’t very sunny.
