Can Matt Gaetz Really Run For Governor? Probably Not, But… We Are Talking About Florida Here

Gaetz's Approval Rating Is In The Toilet

Yesterday, someone noted on Twitter that Florida has the highest inflation and car insurance rates in the country and people can’t pay their skyrocketing property insurance, but the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis— really just a vanity candidate for president at this point— will be passing out free food to voters in New Hampshire on Thursday. A new poll from Florida Atlantic University shows that if registered Republicans were voting in their primary today, Trump would crush DeSantis in Florida— 61% to 20%. Asked about job approval, 49% of Floridians disapprove of how DeSantis is handling his job (41% strongly) and just 50% (38% strongly) approve. And among independent voters, just 38.4% approve of how he’s handling his job.

Out of the blue, the pollsters decided to ask about Matt Gaetz, an incediary Republican congressman from the Panhandle Among all voters, 57% disapprove of how Gaetz is performing as a member of Congress, although that varies greatly between members of different parties.

Democrats-

• 1.2% approve

• 82.9% disapprove

• 15.9% have no opinion or don’t know who he is

Republicans-

• 36.6% approve

• 36.3% disapprove

• 27.1% have no opinion or don’t know who he is

Independents-

• 8.5% approve

• 53.8% disapprove

• 25.2% have no opinion or don’t know who he is

Gatez’s local newspaper noted that he’s “a polarizing figure in Florida, both in and outside of the Republican Party... While Gaetz has repeatedly proven he is unbeatable in the Panhandle, the poll shows that in a statewide race, Gaetz would have a lot of work to do to win people over— not just with independents, but his own party too.”

Last year, Gaetz clobbered Democrat Rebekah Jones 197,349 (67.9%) to 93,467 (32.1%), winning in all 4 counties. It’s worth noting, though, that Gaetz spent $7,421,223 and Jones spent $929,466.

On Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures this past weekend, Kevin McCarthy, currently at war with Gaetz, predicted that Gaetz could be expelled from Congress for bad behavior. McCarthy: “I think once that Ethics complaint comes forward, he could have the same problem as Santos has. I think the conference would be probably better united to be able to move forward and get this all done.”