WASHINGTON _ A majority of Florida voters say Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis should have responded sooner to the coronavirus pandemic and are not ready for the state's stay-at-home order to be lifted, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University.
DeSantis maintains a positive overall approval rating, but 61% of voters polled say the governor, who resisted calls for weeks to impose a stay-at-home order, could have responded sooner to the outbreak. Thirty-four percent say he responded quickly enough.
"Ron DeSantis' approval is solid, but a large majority of people think he acted too slowly," said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.
DeSantis' general handling of the crisis received approval from half of voters polled, with 50% approving and 41% disapproving. Republicans gave DeSantis high marks across the board, while Democrats did not.
The poll also showed that Floridians are in no hurry to end social distancing, at least until public health experts say the state is safe enough to reopen, with 72% of voters saying that Florida should not loosen social distancing rules before the end of April. Nearly three-quarters of voters say Florida's economy should not reopen until public health officials say it's safe, compared to 17% who say it should reopen even if public health officials warn against it.
"Floridians are not in any hurry at all to break down social engagement," Malloy said. "They want public health officials to guide them."
Former vice president and likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden also has a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in Florida, according to the poll, with Biden leading Trump 46% to 42%.
But Biden's favorability rating has decreased slightly over the last month, with 43% of voters viewing him favorably and 40% viewing him unfavorably. Trump's favorability rating is rising, though still negative, with 43% viewing him favorably and 50% viewing him unfavorably.
"Even in the midst of an unprecedented health crisis, Florida delivers a familiar deja vu in the head to head presidential race," Malloy said. "It's Biden, but it's close, as independents play a huge potential role."
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted from April 16 through April 20 with 1,385 self-identified registered voters in Florida. The margin of error was 2.6 percentage points.
A separate poll released Wednesday showed that DeSantis' approval is underwater among Floridians, even lower than Trump's. A Change Research poll conducted April 17-18 with 5,787 likely voters across six competitive battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, showed 42% of Floridians approving of DeSantis and 58% disapproving, compared with 45% approving of Trump and 55% disapproving. The poll had a margin of error of 1.2 percentage points.
"President Trump is also the least trusted to make decisions about reopening the economy," Change Research wrote in a polling memo. "Across every state in our battleground, state and local governments are more trusted to make those decisions _ and with the exception of Ron DeSantis, governors _ including the Democratic governors that Trump has been criticizing _ earn better marks for their handling of coronavirus."
The Quinnipiac poll is the third Biden-Trump poll released since Florida's March 17 Democratic primary, according to FiveThirtyEight, and second conducted since Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race, making Biden the presumptive nominee.
A poll conducted in late March and early April by North Florida University showed Biden beating Trump by 6 percentage points, and a mid-April poll conducted by St. Pete Polls showed a virtual tie.
