Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is dominating his potential primary opponents in Florida’s primary gubernatorial race, a survey from the American Promise revealed.
While the field is still unofficial, Florida House Speaker Paul Renner recently launched his bid for governor, and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins is reportedly considering a run as well.
The survey first looked at a “theoretical” ballot with Donalds, Collins, and Renner as options. That resulted in 40 percent choosing Donalds, while two percent went for Collins and Renner. However, the vast majority, 54 percent, remained unsure.
The pollster then looked at an “informed” ballot, where voters know more about each candidate, including the fact that President Donald Trump has endorsed Donalds to take Gov. Ron DeSantis’s place, the latter of whom is constrained by term limits.
In that scenario, Donalds receives a majority support — 57 percent — while Collins stays consistent with two percent support, and Renner drops a percentage point with one percent support. In that scenario, 38 percent remain unsure.
Overall, the survey said Donalds is enjoying increased name recognition has he continues his bid for governor in the Sunshine State.
As Florida Politics reported:
Donalds’ name value has also been increasing. A survey The American Promise conducted in January found 38% of voters said they knew enough about Donalds to make a confident choice at the ballot box. Meanwhile, 40% said they’d never heard of him, and 22% claimed to have no opinion of him.
This month, Donalds’ qualified name ID hit 52% — a 14-point uptick — while his no-opinion and never-heard-of-him metrics both dipped.
Overall, Donalds’ net favorability climbed from +32% in January to +43% this month.
While DeSantis has not endorsed a candidate, he made it clear he is not supporting Renner’s bid.
“I’m not supporting Paul Renner,” DeSantis told reporters. “I think it was an ill-advised decision to enter the race.”
Donalds told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview over the summer that his vision is to take Florida to the “next level” as governor.
“We’re blessed to live in the best state in America,” Donalds said. “We have great leadership in our state.”
He praised DeSantis for leading the state “tremendously” and said his administration would be about “taking all that success and then now building upon it.”
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“What are we going to do about the future of transportation in our state, making sure it’s easier for our citizens to move through our cities and move to the states. Insurance. We have to continue to do everything we can to drive prices low,” he said, adding that Florida “can become the financial capital of the world in a decade.”
“And so there’s a lot of things — whether it’s permitting, some stuff in our around about business formation in our state capital can come here and actually be the home of real capital – raising money for businesses, etc, here in the state of Florida,” he continued, also outlining his vision for Florida to become a “tech” and “aerospace” hub.
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