DeSantis, Putnam are close in polls

Ron DeSantis and Adam Putnam are tied in the race for governor, a poll of Republican voters shows. The poll by FAU says DeSantis has slipped and Putnam is gaining ground among Republican voters. The state’s primary election is less than a week away. DeSantis was endorsed by President Donald Trump.

With a week to go before the Republican primary for governor, a poll shows Ron DeSantis and Adam Putnam are tied.

DeSantis has support of 32 percent of Republican voters and Putnam has 31 percent in a poll released Tuesday by Florida Atlantic University. The survey has a margin of error of 7 percentage points, so either candidate could be way ahead, or they could be even.

The results from the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative show DeSantis has slipped and Putnam has gained since its previous poll. In the previous FAU poll, released July 25, DeSantis had the support of 36 percent of Florida Republicans. Putnam had 27 percent.

In recent weeks, the trajectory of the race had seemed headed toward a DeSantis victory. Many DeSantis supporters had been readying to pop the champagne corks and Putnam supporters had started crying in their beer.

Kevin Wagner, an FAU political scientist, said the poll numbers “suggest that the race has tightened a bit, and there’s some momentum for Putnam.”

Wagner said races often get tighter as the date of the election gets closer. “A greater number of people focus on them, and so there’s probably a good number of people that are probably just now thinking about this race.”

With the primary just a week away, FAU reported 22 percent of Republican voters are still undecided in the party’s most important primary contest. In the July poll, 23 percent were undecided. In May, 43 percent were undecided.

Given that DeSantis is one of 27 members of Congress in the state and Putnam holds the relatively low-profile job of state agriculture commissioner, Wagner said many voters don’t know all that much about either one.

DeSantis has had a remarkable surge in the past three months, thanks largely to the repeated and emphatic support from President Donald Trump. In a May FAU poll, the candidates were essentially tied: 16 percent for DeSantis and 15 percent for Putnam.

Trump tweeted his support for DeSantis last year, then followed up this summer with an official endorsement and a rally in Tampa.

The president’s involvement overshadowed the Republican campaign. But Putnam has deep relationships from years of working with Republican Party activists around the state.

Earlier this month, DeSantis and Putnam had a testy televised debate and the campaign has been marked by scorching negative ads.

If the race turns out as close as the new FAU poll indicates, DeSantis may have peaked too early.

Wagner said the nomination may be decided by which candidate does a better job of making sure his supporters actually vote.

Mail balloting has been underway for weeks and inperson early voting is taking place across the state. As of Tuesday morning, more than 531,000 Republicans had already voted in the primary. Primary day is Aug. 28. The latest survey of 222 Republican registered voters from the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative was conducted online and through automated calls to people with landline telephones Thursday through Monday.

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