Gee ... imagine 'freedom' being more popular than being 'shutdown'.
Ron DeSantis' governing strategy in Florida is paying offFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis has championed controversial stances that have catapulted him into GOP stardom. From Covid-19 vaccines to critical race theory to the law critics have dubbed "Don't Say Gay," DeSantis has annoyed Democrats (and many medical professionals) and delighted his fellow Republicans.
He's played to the GOP base -- something you may not expect for a governor of a competitive state running for reelection this year.
But guess what? It's working for DeSantis. His polling has improved since last summer, and he finds himself as the strongest possible competitor of former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
Take a look at where DeSantis stood last summer. He was receiving a lot of negative press for standing against vaccine mandates in hospitals and mask mandates in schools. If you look at an aggregate of polling information available at the time, his approval rating was in the high 40s among Floridians and his disapproval numbers were in the mid-40s.
Today, DeSantis is in a considerably stronger position. His approval rating in Florida has risen into the mid-50s, while his disapproval rating has dropped to about 40%.
Governors with approval ratings above 50% in states their party won in the previous presidential election are in an enviable position.
Indeed, DeSantis' numbers against potential 2022 opponents have improved too.
He and US Rep. Charlie Crist, the current Democratic front-runner and a former Republican governor, were in a dead heat in August. Today, DeSantis has a lead over Crist in the high single digits. Historically, most gubernatorial candidates in DeSantis' polling position, even at this early point, have gone on to win. ............
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/21/politics/florida-governor-desantis-poll-numbers/index.html
