Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
(Photo : Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a new conference on the surge in coronavirus cases in the state held at the Jackson Memorial Hospital on July 13, 2020.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' approval rating fell by double digits since April, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

Of the poll respondents, 38 percent said they approve of DeSantis' handling of the virus in Florida, while 57 percent said they don't approve, reported The Hill.

Back in April, 50 percent of the poll respondents said they approved and only 41 percent disapproved. That means 16 percent more lost their faith in the Florida governor.

According to Sun Sentinel, DeSantis enjoyed sky-high approval ratings in the past. The new poll provides a dramatic shift as this is the lowest disapproval rating DeSantis had since he took office in 2019, NBC Miami reported. In a span of three months, his net approval met a 31-point swing.

Tim Malloy, a polling analyst from Quinnipiac University said Florida was first a "safe harbor" for COVID-19 refugees. "Now, it registers a startling number of infections, and the numbers say the buck stops at Governor DeSantis' desk in Tallahassee," he added.

The poll was done by Quinnipiac University with live interviewers calling landlines and cell phones all over Florida from July 16 to July 20. They collected 924 responses from registered voters with a sampling error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.

Reopening the Economy and Schools

Most of the respondents, at 61 percent, also believed that the reopening process of Florida's economy was premature. Only 31 percent thought the pace was "at about the right pace" and six percent said the process was too slow. The state reopening was one of the earliest in the country.

Votes in Florida also disapproved of the school reopening plans by DeSantis. Those who don't approve make up 56 percent of the votes, while 37 percent believe the handling of school reopenings is done right.

Breaking this down, 62 percent think it is not safe to send elementary and high school students to schools in the fall and 57 percent think it is unsafe for college students to return to campus in the coming semester.

Malloy said the commitment to put students in schools for the coming fall is a "non-starters" for voters. "Floridians are saying 'forget it'," he said.

Face Masks and New Stay-at-Home Order

The poll also found that 79 percent of the voters think facial masks should be required by the state. A press release from Quinnipiac said there is an "overwhelming support" to have a face mask requirement among all ages and the other demographics the poll listed.

Meanwhile, the voters are split on the idea of having a new stay-at-home order for the state as 49 percent think it should be issued and 48 percent are against it, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Benchmark for Ratings

Other than DeSantis, Florida also has two other Republicans in the Senate. But they do not have the big drop that is seen by DeSantis, who works on the front lines and makes high-profile decisions.

Rick Scott had a 41 percent approval rating, while Marco Rubio had 40 percent.

Florida had 173 new deaths this Thursday, setting its single-day record for deaths from the COVID-19. It also saw 10,250 new cases of the coronavirus.

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