Americans reveal whether they would rather live in Florida or California and who they would pick out of Ron DeSantis or Gavin Newsom for president in Daily Mail poll
One is a liberal oasis, where gas is heavily taxed and the proceeds are spent on green energy projects. The other state is where ‘awakens to die’.
So where would Americans rather live: Gavin Newsom’s California or Ron DeSantis’ Florida?
The answer is Florida, according to an exclusive poll for DailyMail.com, which provides insight into what the 2024 election could look like if the two major parties changed course and chose nominees from a younger generation of leaders.
About 47 percent said they would prefer to live in DeSantis’ Sunshine State, while 40 percent said they would like to live in Newsom’s Golden State.
California is currently experiencing an epidemic of robberies, while the price of gasoline has reached $7 per gallon in some places.
Republicans overwhelmingly favored Florida and Democrats favored California. Independents tipped the result in favor of the Sunshine State when asked where they would most like to live
The results of a poll of 1,000 likely voters also show that Ron DeSantis would beat Gavin Newsom by four points if they were to face off in the 2024 election.
The results of a poll of 1,000 likely voters also show that DeSantis would beat Newsom by four points if they were to face off in the 2024 election.
The California governor, who is 55, was widely touted as an alternative candidate to 80-year-old Joe Biden before ruling himself out of a challenge.
At the same time, DeSantis, 45, is struggling to contain 77-year-old Donald Trump in the Republican nominating contest.
The 2024 election is increasingly looking like a repeat of the 2020 election, with two older candidates using the same old arguments.
But both sides will get a sense of what could have happened in November, when DeSantis and Newsom face off in a televised debate.
They offer very different visions of the nation. A West Coast liberal with a moratorium on executions who has promoted the growth of electric vehicles, versus an East Coast conservative who has cracked down on abortion, ignored medical advice and opened up his state early in the pandemic.
To their opponents, Newsom’s soft-on-crime policies have led to an explosion of smash and grab robberies and homelessness, while DeSantis has turned back the clock on silencing classroom discussion of homosexuality.
And if our poll with JL Partners is correct, Americans prefer DeSantis’ view. About 57 percent of independents said they would prefer to live in Florida, while Republicans and Democrats fall into predictable camps favoring Florida and California, respectively.
Joe Alder, Senior Research Associate at JLP, said, “That eight in 10 Republicans choose Florida, while the same percentage of Democrats choose California, shows the polarization the country faces. Even the most personal – where people choose to live – has become truly political.
JL Partners surveyed 1,000 likely voters from September 15 to 20. As it turned out, DeSantis would beat Newsom 43 percent to 39 percent in a head-to-head matchup
More than 849 people are expected to die from drug overdoses in 2023, which is on pace to exceed the current record of 720 deaths in 2020
“Meanwhile, independents’ choice of the Sunshine State is a two-to-one margin ahead of the November debate between Governors Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom.
“It is DeSantis’ state, not Newsom’s, that swing voters see as the aspirational destination in contemporary America. Whether the same will be true of DeSantis’ vision for the nation remains to be seen.”
Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
But he has repeatedly emphasized that he does not plan to run in 2024.
“President Biden is going to run for office, and we look forward to getting him re-elected,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding that Biden already has a successor in Vice President Kamala Harris.
DeSantis, for his part, used the second Republican debate this week to highlight his record in Florida as a template for the nation.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in his state grew by 297,000 people last year, more than 30 times the unemployment rate.
Newsom answers questions in the spin room ahead of a Republican presidential primary debate hosted Wednesday by FOX Business Network and Univision
By contrast, employment in California’s much larger economy grew by 191,019, a number nearly matched by the 171,154 on the unemployment rolls.
The state’s gas tax — the nation’s highest — and environmental fees are also under intense scrutiny as prices reach $7 per gallon, nearly double the national average.
Meanwhile, a new crime trend of “flash rob mobs” could cost the state $19 billion a year, according to the LAPD. Groups of thieves have looted stores including Nordstrom and Versace, where as many as 30 people managed to escape with $300,000 worth of goods.
DeSantis campaign director Andrew Romeo said, “The contrast between California’s failures and Florida’s success shows Ron DeSantis is right: decline is just a choice.
Ron DeSantis rejects that choice and will reverse America’s decline as president.
“Whether Newsom or Biden is the Democratic nominee in ’24, they both offer the same failed and dangerous ideology for America that got us into this mess. We look forward to matching Ron DeSantis’ successes.”
If they were to run against each other, independents would influence the race for DeSantis. About 43 percent of independents say they would support DeSantis, while only 32 percent would support California’s governor.
But the matchup is hypothetical and DeSantis has the advantage of already having a national campaign.
For now, former President Donald Trump is the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination and DeSantis has failed to close the gap.