Poll: Gillum leads DeSantis by 7 points in Florida governor race

Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D) holds a 7-point lead over Republican Ron DeSantis, according to a new poll in the closely-watched governor’s race.

The Quinnipiac University Poll survey, which was released on Monday, shows that 50 percent of likely voters polled favor Gillum, while 43 percent of likely voters surveyed support DeSantis. 

{mosads}Six percent of likely voters in the survey said they are still undecided, while just 1 percent of polled voters who had picked a candidate said they may change their mind on Election Day. 

The 7-point advantage for Gillum is similar to the Quinnipiac survey of the Florida governor’s race released on Oct. 23. The poll found that Gillum had a 6-point lead over DeSantis at the time. 

Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, has a 13-point lead over DeSantis among independent voters and a 14-point advantage among women, according to the poll. 

The two candidates are tied among male voters. 

“Mayor Andrew Gillum and his challenger, former Congressman Ron DeSantis, are running exactly the same, 93-94 percent among self-identified members of each of their respective parties. But Gillum’s 13-point margin among independents is the difference in the outcome,” Peter A. Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said. 

The new poll was released just a day before the general election. 

An NBC News/Marist poll also released on Monday showed that Gillum and DeSantis are in a statistical tie. Gillum has a 2-point lead over DeSantis, a former congressman, according to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polling.

The Quinnipiac University Poll was conducted between Oct. 29 and Nov. 4 among a population of 1,142 likely voters in Florida. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.