WASHINGTON D.C. – A
survey of 800 likely general election voters in Florida, conducted by the national survey research and
polling firm Cygnal, shows that Floridians overwhelmingly approve
of Governor DeSantis’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine
distribution and don’t trust the media to report it fairly.
The statewide Cygnal survey, which was conducted April 8 -11, 2021,
shows that the mainstream media has a negative approval rating (-14) while
DeSantis is viewed favorably by most voters (+17 uninformed, +25 informed).
DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic has higher approval among Floridians
(60%) than does President Biden’s (58%) or former President Trump’s (49%).
Additionally, 72% of Florida voters approve of the state’s vaccine
distribution. Specifically, 74% of voters approve of DeSantis’ decision to
vaccinate seniors first, 72% approve of making Florida one of the first states
where anyone over 18 can get a vaccine, and 58% approve of keeping the economy
open throughout the pandemic.
Most
voters (63%) are aware that DeSantis is letting Publix distribute the COVID-19
vaccine and that Publix has donated to his PAC, but it does not have a negative
impact on their view of DeSantis or Publix (DeSantis: 66% more favorable or no
difference / Publix: 76% more favorable or no difference).
Fewer voters are aware of the 60 Minutes segment on Publix distributing
the vaccine in Florida (45%). 60 Minutes presented a highly-edited video of
DeSantis that created the false narrative that Publix had been given special
treatment. Once survey respondents watched a portion of the 60 Minutes segment
along with DeSantis’ unaltered statement, almost twice as many voters trust
DeSantis more than the media to tell the truth about Florida’s COVID-19 vaccine
distribution (52% DeSantis, 27% the media).
“I was shocked when I saw how brazen and dishonest the 60 Minutes
segment was,” said Brent Buchanan, Cygnal’s CEO and founder. “DeSantis’ net
favorability went up eight points after voters saw the segment and learned more
about his actions throughout the pandemic. We didn’t test 60 Minutes’ image,
but I imagine it would have plummeted. After all, 53% of respondents already
viewed the mainstream media unfavorably.
The
toplines, crosstabs, and presentation are available on Cygnal’s website.
The information was gathered by Cygnal
via an online survey platform. Likely general election voters in Florida
were interviewed between April 8 and 11, 2021. This survey has a sample size of
n800 and a MoE of ±3.46%.
April
13, 2021
Contact:
Chris Kratzer
Chrisk@cygn.al
(334)
546-3450
Cygnal is an award-winning national public opinion and predictive analytics
firm that pioneered multi-mode
polling, peer-to-peer text collection, and Political Emotive Analysis. Cygnal
was recently named the #1 Republican private pollster by Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, as well as the #1 most accurate polling and research firm in the
country for 2018 by The New York Times. Its team members have worked in 47 states and countries on more
than 2,100 corporate, public affairs, and political campaigns.
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