Recent polls: Florida governor's race is tied up

The race for Florida governor is heating up, with a recent poll showing a statistical tie between Republican Ron DeSantis and Tallahassee's socialist mayor, Andrew Gillum.

The new Mason-Dixon poll surveyed 815 likely voters and found that Gillum leads DeSantis by just one point, 46-45 percent. The poll was conducted by telephone and found that both candidates are widely recognized, with 13 percent of respondents failing to recognize Gillum's name and just 7 percent for DeSantis.

There is a gender gap for both candidates. DeSantis leads among men by 15 points; Gillum leads among women by 14 points. DeSantis is the preference of white voters, 54-35 percent, while Gillum is the consensus pick for black voters, 89-4, and leads among Hispanic voters 50-37 percent. Voters under 50 years old break for Gillum, voters over 50 for DeSantis.

Regionally, DeSantis is stronger in northern, central, and southwest Florida, the candidates are tied in the Tampa Bay area, and Gillum leads strongly in southeast Florida.

Adam C. Smith, writing for the Tampa Bay Times, said the poll shows it's "time to reel back the insanely premature chatter about Andrew Gillum starting to leave Ron DeSantis in the dust in Florida's governor's race."

Smith noted this is the third recent poll to show the race tied.

In addition, a Sept. 29-30 automated (no cell phones) St. Pete Polls survey showed Gillum with 47 percent and DeSantis with 45. A  Sept. 17 – Sept. 30 (Be skeptical about polls conducted over such a long period of time) poll conducted for Gray Television by Strategic Research Associates from Gillum ahead 44 percent to 43.

The average of recent polls compiled by RealClearPolitics.com has Gillum ahead by an average of 3.7 percentage points.

This race is far from over.

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