Ron DeSantis holds puny lead on Charlie Crist in progressive poll

Fresh polling shows Gov. Ron DeSantis with only a 3-percentage-point lead over Democratic challenger Charlie Crist.

Liberal groups Progress Florida and Florida Watch published polling modeled on a Republican-leaning Midterm electorate and found DeSantis leading with 48% to Crist’s 45%. That closely matches findings for a generic ballot test showing 48% of voters feel inclined to vote Republican in the midterms and 45% intend to vote Democratic.

That puts the race within the poll’s 1.78% margin of error. Pollsters for the Florida Communications and Research Hub surveyed 3,017 Florida voters between Aug. 25 and 30. That means the poll was taken after Democrats elected Crist, a St. Petersburg Congressman, as the Democratic nominee for Governor.

That still gives the Republican Governor an edge, but leaves him short of a critical 50% level of support.