Ron DeSantis spent 2024 getting humiliated in a presidential primary that he never should have entered.
But now he’s quietly doing something nobody in Washington saw coming.
And a brand-new Florida poll just showed DeSantis outpolling Trump in his own home state – with every demographic – and the 2028 chess match just got a whole lot more interesting.
DeSantis Approval Rating Tops Trump With Every Demographic in Florida
The University of North Florida's Public Opinion Research Lab surveyed 786 likely Florida midterm voters between February 21 and March 2, and the results are exactly what DeSantis needed.
“Two years after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fell to Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary, voters in his state appear to favor him over the embattled president,” WFLA reported. “A poll from the University of North Florida released Wednesday found that DeSantis has a higher favorability rating across all demographics and political affiliations surveyed.”
DeSantis sits at 52% approval while Trump is at 45% in the same state he carried by 13 points in November.
DeSantis leads among Republicans, 87% to 83%.
He leads independents by 10 points.
He leads with men, women, whites, Hispanics, and every age group.
The only demographic where Trump edges him out is Black voters – 11% to 10%.
https://twitter.com/lou_twin/status/2029198039521607910?s=20
After the 2024 primary disaster, the political class wrote DeSantis off completely.
They shouldn't have.
What DeSantis Has Been Doing While Nobody Was Watching
Here's what the media won't tell you: DeSantis used 2025 to quietly rebuild everything that went sideways in the presidential race.
He opened "Alligator Alcatraz" – the immigration detention facility that made national headlines and had Trump himself show up to celebrate it.
He's been at Trump's side at press events, backing Trump's agenda, playing the loyal governor rather than the rival.
But he's also been building a successor pipeline in Tallahassee – his own picks for attorney general, CFO, and lieutenant governor – while navigating Trump's endorsement of Byron Donalds for the open governor's seat.
That's not a man who's done with national politics.
That's a man running a two-year rehabilitation campaign ahead of a 2028 presidential run.
DeSantis 2028 Presidential Run Gets Its First Real Number
This is a DeSantis strength story – and it tells you something important about 2028.
https://twitter.com/TeamTrump47/status/2029198031711555830?s=20
DeSantis governing Florida every day is a reminder to voters of what competent conservative leadership looks like up close.
Trump governing America from Washington will always face headwinds that a state governor never faces – tariffs, foreign crises, budget fights, the daily grind of running a country.
DeSantis gets to look like the guy who delivers.
And if Republicans take a midterm beating in November – which history suggests is likely when a president is polling in the mid-40s – DeSantis will have spent two years positioning himself as the governor who kept Florida red while Congress turned purple.
“While Trump’s favorable and unfavorable numbers are roughly equal in Florida, his net approval among Independents is –26%,” Dr. Sean Freeder, PORL director and professor of political science, said in a statement. “Given presidential approval strongly predicts House and Senate outcomes, this constitutes early evidence that Congressional Republicans may struggle in November.”
The 2028 race is a completely different contest from 2024 – and Ron DeSantis just posted his first real number that says he's back.
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Poll: Almost across the board, Ron DeSantis is more popular than Donald Trump in Florida," Florida Politics, March 4, 2026.
- Action News Jax News Staff, "University of North Florida poll shows Florida voters' opinions on Trump and DeSantis policies," Action News Jax, March 4, 2026.
- Gallup, "Midterm Seat Loss Averages 37 for Unpopular Presidents," Gallup News, 2018.
