A newly released poll has found that Latino voters in the state of Florida support Republican Governor Ron DeSantis over Democrat Charlie Crist by 7% in the state’s gubernatorial election next month.
The Left-leaning Telemundo/LX News poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, found that Latinos supported DeSantis over Crist 51% to 44% and gave DeSantis a 56% approval rating.
The poll also found that Latino voters supported DeSantis’ decision to send illegal aliens to liberal Martha’s Vineyard, with 50% in favor and 43% opposed.
NBC News noted that support for DeSantis sending the illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard is highest amongst Latino immigrants, 52% to 41%.
The report noted that the poll showing DeSantis’ 7-point lead with Latino voters comes after DeSantis lost the Latino vote during his 2018 gubernatorial victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum.
Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker said that DeSantis’ charisma and attitude has won over a lot of Latino voters.
“There are lots of Hispanic voters in this state who really like the governor’s style, this strongman who won’t back down,” Coker said. “And Crist has no mojo.”
Republican strategist Giancarlo Sopo said that Democrats fundamentally misunderstand what Latino voters believe about immigration.
“Too many Democrats think Hispanics like uncontrolled mass migration and they couldn’t be more wrong,” Sopo said. “Those of us who remember Miami in the ’80s and ’90s remember the aftermath of Mariel when 120,000 people showed up in the community over a span of six months. What we’re now seeing at the border is two Mariels per month.”
Coker later added that the problem Democrats are having in the midterm elections is the state of the U.S. economy under President Joe Biden.
“You can’t ignore the 800-pound gorilla: The economy sucks for a lot of people,” Coker said. “And in the last stretch of the election, it comes down to a referendum on a sitting president and how is the economy? On both counts the Democrats come up short.”
The poll comes as DeSantis and Crist met Monday night for their first and only debate before the election.
The two candidates touched on a variety of issues ranging from leftists supporting genital mutilation for minors, to supporting an unborn baby’s right to live, protecting girls from having to compete against biological males in sports, border security, the economy, education, the death penalty, and more.
Crist tried repeatedly throughout the night to nail DeSantis on his potential ambitions to run for president in 2024, but his shots appeared to fall short.
DeSantis, who has raised more money for his political operation than all other potential 2024 candidates and who has the highest net approval rating of any major U.S. politician, responded to Crist’s attack by saying, “I just want to make things very, very clear the only worn out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”
