In February 2025, Florida Congressman Byron Donald was sworn in as the state’s next governor with the support of President Trump. But a year later, many Florida Republican primary voters are still unsure whether Donald is the best choice to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A new poll by the University of North Florida’s (UNF) Public Opinion Research Institute found that 36% of Republicans are undecided about who they will elect for governor.
Congressman Byron Donald is next with 28%, followed by Congressman Casey DeSantis (who is not campaigning) with 24%. Despite Casey DeSantis being an unannounced candidate, the UNF poll’s margin of error is +/- 4.38 points, putting her in a statistical tie with Donald.
Removing Casey DeSantis from the roster makes things even worse for Donald. The 36% of undecided Republican votes jumps to 51%.
The poll also found that 64% of Casey supporters said they were unsure who they would vote for if Casey did not run.
Behind DeSantis is James Fishback (4%), LT. Gov. Jay Collins (3%) and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner about 1%.
Donald’s campaign has emphasized that UNF polling shows that when voters know that the president supports them, their approval rating rises to 47%.
However, the same UNF poll asked Republican voters whether their support was more important to them, Governor DeSantis or President Trump.
Forty-two percent of Republican voters said an endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis would have more influence than President Trump, who had just 32%.
The poll was conducted from February 16th to 20th among 657 people believed to be Republican voters.
