Gov. Ron DeSantis’ approval rating is at one of the lowest points since he took office seven years ago.
A poll from Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy released Wednesday shows 50% of Florida voters approve of his performance and 46% disapprove — a net positive of four percentage points.
That’s not the lowest point of DeSantis’ time as governor — it was worse during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — but it’s lower than six other Mason-Dixon surveys of Florida voters’ views since DeSantis became governor in January 2019.
— In March 2019, he enjoyed stellar ratings from the state’s voters, with 62% approval and 24% disapproval — a net positive of 38 percentage points.
— DeSantis’ nadir was in July 2020, when 45% of Florida voters approved of his performance and 49% disapproved — a net negative of four percentage points.
— In March 2025, he had 53% approval and 42% disapproval — a net positive of nine points.
During the last year, Mason-Dixon reported, his approval rating has dropped 10 points among no party affiliation/independent voters, eight points among Hispanic voters, and nine points among Black voters.
He fares better among men — 56% approval, 42% disapproval — than among women. He is underwater among women, with 45% approval and 49% disapproval.
“Thee are multiple reasons why this could be occurring,” Mason-Dixon CEO and managing director Brad Coker said in a written poll analysis. “Among them, the national trends against Republicans in general and natural voter fatigue with governors nearing the end of their second term in office,” which isn’t an unusual phenomenon.
It’s unknown what DeSantis will do next; many expect him to seek the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.
In the meantime, he’s pushing for major, attention-grabbing initiatives — ideas that could be used as selling points for primary voters in other states — during his last year in office. He wants to dramatically reduce property taxes for owner-occupied homes and to regulate artificial intelligence.
“With no immediate announced political plans, DeSantis’ popularity drop probably has no immediate impact. Overall, a 50% approval rating is not bad — it is simply lower than what he has enjoyed throughout his tenure,” Coker said.
Democrats and Republicans have far different views of the governor.
Among Democrats, 10% approve and 87% disapprove of his performance. Among Republicans, 86% approve and 10% disapprove.
Among no party affiliation/independents, 41% approve and 52% disapprove.
Mason-Dixon surveyed 625 voters with live calls by phone from Jan. 8-12. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Breakdowns for smaller groups, such as Democrats, Republicans and independents, or men and women, have higher margins of error.
Political writer Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.