Poll: Gillum leads DeSantis by 5 points in Florida governor race

Democrat Andrew Gillum has a 5-point lead over Ron Desantis (R) in the upcoming Florida gubernatorial election, according to a poll released Tuesday.

The NBC/Marist Poll found that 48 percent of likely voters surveyed said they would vote for Gillum if the election were held today, while 43 percent said they’d support DeSantis. Seven percent of those surveyed said they remain undecided.

Results are expectedly skewed based on party affiliation, with 90 percent of Democrats backing Gillum and 86 percent voicing support for DeSantis.

{mosads}But among independent voters, Gillum is leading with 51 percent saying they’d support the Democrat, and 38 percent saying they’d vote for DeSantis.

Gillum is also leading his Republican opponent among minority groups with 86 percent of black likely voters backing him compared to just 9 percent who said they’d support DeSantis.

The Democrat also leads 52-38 among Latino voters, according to the poll.

DeSantis does hold a 10 point advantage among white voters.

The poll surveyed 600 people from Sept. 16-20. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

Tuesday’s poll tracks with other recent polls and is similar to a RealClearPolitics average of polls in the race that shows Gillum with a 3.8 percentage point lead.

Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, and DeSantis, who recently resigned his House seat to focus on the governor’s race, are running to replace outgoing Gov. Rick Scott (R), who is term-limited and running for U.S. Senate. 

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the gubernatorial contest a “toss-up.”

Gillum has earned the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), while DeSantis has received the endorsement of President Trump.