Gillum up by 6 points in Florida governor’s race: poll

Democrat Andrew Gillum holds a 6-point lead over Republican Ron DeSantis in Florida’s gubernatorial race, according to a new poll.

Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, has the support of 52 percent of likely voters, while 46 percent support DeSantis, a former U.S. congressman, in the Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.

{mosads}Gillum’s lead slipped from his 9-point advantage in a similar survey in September. 

He is bolstered by support from women and minority voters, with 99 percent of black voters, 59 percent of Hispanic voters and 59 percent of women backing him.

Gillum also has the support of 57 percent of independent voters, pollsters found.

“Looking inside the numbers of the governor’s race between Mayor Andrew Gillum and former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, we see shining examples of the problems Republicans face this year, not just in Florida, but around the country,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement.

“The GOP has faced strong opposition from women and other anti-Trump voters. These defections have hurt GOP candidates around the country and made it difficult to attract the numbers of independent voters that are often major players in successful campaigns,” Brown added. 

The poll’s results were based on surveys of 1,161 likely voters from Oct. 17 to 21. They have a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.  

Gillum has a lead of roughly 4.5 points in a RealClearPolitics average of recent polling.