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As we start 2025 as well as a new presidential administration in Washington, D.C., the most recent Florida Chamber statewide poll finds both Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump with high job approval numbers. While 56% 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 remaining 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 47% of Floridians believing the nation to be heading in the right direction and an equal number believing the country is on the wrong track. In the Chamber’s previous poll, which was conducted just prior to President Trump being elected, only 28% of Floridians believed the country was heading in the right direction. A particularly dramatic shift in optimism for the nation was seen among younger voters: while just 7% of Floridians 18-29 believed America was heading in the right direction in the Florida Chamber’s October 2024 poll, that percentage increased sevenfold to 49% in the Chamber’s most recent poll.
Support for Adult Personal Use of Marijuana Continues to Fall Short of 60% Requirement for Passage
The Florida Chamber’s poll also found less 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 sixth 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, over $145 million of which came from Florida’s largest medicinal marijuana provider. This failure to build momentum for the amendment in polling displays that the more voters learn about legalizing recreational marijuana, the less they like what they learn.
Florida Voters Support Florida Legislators Strengthening the Process to Amend Florida’s Constitution
The failed drug legalization campaign could be impacting voters’ opinions on the constitutional amendment process in general. The Florida Chamber’s poll shows Florida voters are strongly supportive of Florida legislators improving the constitutional amendment process by returning the process to the citizens and taking it out of the hands of special interests. More than ¾ of voters (76%) would be more likely to support a legislator who voted to tighten the constitutional amendment process with 78% of Republicans and NPA’s as well as 73% of Democrats supportive of protecting the Florida Constitution.
“Out of state and special interest groups have attempted to circumvent the Florida Legislature by spending hundreds of millions of dollars pushing amendments to Florida’s Constitution” said Mark Wilson, President & CEO, Florida Chamber of Commerce. “Our poll shows Florida voters want Legislators to return the ballot initiative process to citizens initiatives and not those run by special interests.”
Generic Ballot in line with 2024 Election as we look ahead to 2026
While the 2026 general election is still more than a year and a half away, the Florida Chamber’s 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 38% who would support a generic Democratic candidate. This 12 point advantage for Republicans mirrors last November’s elections, where President Trump and Senator Scott each defeated their respective Democratic opponents by a 13 point margin.
Republicans Continue to Dominate Voter Registration in Florida
Republicans continued to expand their registration lead over Democrats since the last publicly released Florida Chamber poll. The final voter registration update of 2024 from the Florida Division of Elections shows Republicans held a statewide advantage of 1,157,794 active voters over Democrats. As of December 31, 2024, Florida had 5,632,888 registered Republicans compared to 4,475,094 registered Democrats and 4,138,259 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 February 2 – 8, 2025, by Cherry Communications during live telephone interviews of likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent. The sample size included 212 Democrats, 261 Republicans and 127 others for a total of 600 respondents statewide.
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