New Florida Chamber Statewide Poll Shows Republicans Maintain Double-Digit Lead Over Democrats on Generic 2026 Ballot

As we move further into 2025 with President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in the books, the most recent Florida Chamber statewide poll finds both Governor Ron DeSantis and President Trump with high job approval numbers. While 54% of Florida voters approve of the job Governor DeSantis is doing, President Trump enjoys support from 51% of Florida voters who approve of the job he is doing since being elected President.
The Florida Chamber’s new poll also finds Floridians remain optimistic about the direction of Florida, with 49% saying Florida is heading in the right direction, while 43% believe things are on the wrong track. Opinions on the direction of the United States are split, with 48% of Floridians believing the nation is heading in the right direction and an equal number believing the country is on the wrong track. Both numbers remain steady with the Florida Chamber’s most recent public poll in February.

Florida Voters Support Federal and State Efforts to Provide Tax Relief

The Florida Chambers poll finds a majority (57%) of Floridians support efforts in Washington, D.C. to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which otherwise are set to expire. This effort is supported by 87% of Republicans, 55% of NPA’s, and even 23% of Democrats.

At the state level, the Florida Chamber’s poll finds that efforts to repeal the Florida-only Business Rent Tax, taxation on the sales on commercial leases, also enjoys majority support. 53% of Floridians polled support the elimination of the Business Rent Tax, including a majority of Republican and NPA voters.

“With all Florida has done right, opportunities remain at the state level to make our tax environment even more competitive,” said Mark Wilson, President & CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. “Most notably, the state should eliminate the business rent tax or sales tax on commercial leases, which places Florida businesses at a disadvantage compared to businesses in every other state. The Florida Chamber has been working for nearly a decade to reduce this Florida-only tax from 6% to 2%, and hopes this is the year this burdensome tax on local businesses is repealed once and for all.”

Historic Lawsuit Abuse Reform Remains Popular Among Florida Voters

In 2023, landmark lawsuit abuse reforms were passed to address the frivolous litigation problem in Florida. Two years later, Floridians continue to strongly support the lawsuit abuse reforms passed. Only 15% of voters polled believe the lawsuit abuse reforms went too far. Additionally, a plurality of Florida voters polled are supportive of additional efforts to rein in frivolous litigation in Florida.

A majority of Florida voters believe personal injury trial lawyers who advertise on billboards and television are more interested in making money than in protecting the rights of people. Only 10% of voters polled believe the personal injury trial lawyers who advertise on billboards and television are more interested in protecting the rights of people, while 75% say they are more interested in making money, including 84% of Republicans and 71% of NPA’s.

Support for Adult Personal Use of Marijuana Lower than on 2024 Election Day: Continues to Fall Short of 60% Requirement for Passage

The Florida Chamber’s poll also found fewer Florida voters support legalizing recreational marijuana (53%), than a similar recreational marijuana legalization effort achieved at the ballot box in November (56%). This is the seventh consecutive poll from the Florida Chamber indicating this potential amendment remains short of the 60% threshold required for passage. The lack of support from Floridians over the past two years comes despite more than $150 million being spent to try and pass the amendment during the 2024 election along with an additional $20 million attempting to revive this amendment for 2026—over $165 million of which came from Florida’s largest medicinal marijuana seller. This failure to build momentum for the amendment in polling displays that the more voters learn about legalizing recreational marijuana, the less high on legalizing weed they become.

Generic Ballot in Line with 2024 Election as We Look Ahead to 2026

While the 2026 general election is nearly a year and a half away, the Florida Chamber’s latest poll shows an early indication that the strong support Republicans saw in the 2022 and 2024 general elections has yet to dissipate amongst the Florida electorate. When asked which party voters are likely to support in 2026, 50% of Floridians indicated their vote would be for a Republican candidate compared to 40% who would support a generic Democratic candidate. This 10-point advantage for Republicans is consistent with how Floridians have voted in the last two general elections, when President Trump and Governor DeSantis won by double digits.

Republicans Continue to Dominate Voter Registration in Florida with a 1.2 Million Voter Advantage

Republicans continued to expand their registration lead over Democrats since the last publicly released Florida Chamber poll. The most recent voter registration update from the Florida Division of Elections shows Republicans hold a statewide advantage of 1,210,821 active voters over Democrats. As of March 31, 2025, Florida had 5,635,605 registered Republicans compared to 4,424,784 registered Democrats and 4,119,405 registered as NPAs, or members of minor parties. This gives Republicans a lead of more than 8% of all registered voters over Democrats in Florida. Since the 2022 general election, Republicans have increased their share of the active electorate in all 67 counties, while Democrats have lost registration share in all 67 counties over the same time period.

Florida Chamber Voter Education and Recruiting Initiatives

Looking ahead to the 2026 Election, the Florida Chamber will continue to lead the business community’s efforts to recruit and elect better candidates through the Florida Free Enterprise Fund, Florida Chamber Political Institute and the Florida Institute for Political Leadership. For more information about these initiatives, contact the Florida Chamber’s Executive Vice President of Government & Political Relations, Frank Walker, at fwalker@flchamber.com.

ABOUT THIS POLL: The Florida Chamber of Commerce political poll was conducted on May 2–10, 2025, by Cherry Communications during live telephone interviews of likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent. The sample size included 218 Democrats, 264 Republicans, and 123 others for a total of 605 respondents statewide.