One is a liberal oasis, where gas is taxed heavily and the proceeds spent on green energy projects. The other state is where ‘woke goes 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, giving an insight into what the 2024 election might look like if the two major parties changed course and picked nominees from a younger generation of leader.
Some 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 battling an epidemic of smash-and-grab robberies, while the price of gas has hit $7-a-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 prefer to live
The results from a poll of 1,000 likely voters also show that Ron DeSantis would beat Gavin Newsom by four points if they went head-to-head in the 2024 election
The results from a poll of 1,000 likely voters also show that DeSantis would beat Newsom by four points if they went head-to-head 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 rein in 77-year-old Donald Trump in the Republican nominating contest.
The 2024 election looks more and more like a repeat of the 2020 election, with two aging candidates running through the same old arguments.
But both sides will get a sense of what might have been in November when DeSantis and Newsom go head-to-head 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 and who ignored medical advice and opened his state early during the pandemic.
To their detractors, Newsom’s soft on crime policies have led to an explosion in ‘smash and grab’ robberies and homelessness while DeSantis has turned back the clock to silence discussion of homosexuality in classrooms.
And if our poll with J.L. Partners has it right, Americans prefer the DeSantis vision. Some 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 8 in 10 Republicans choose Florida, while the same proportion of Democrats choose California, shows the polarization the country faces. Even the most personal – where people choose to live – has become truly political.
J.L. Partners polled 1000 likely voters from 15 to 20 September. It found that DeSantis would beat Newsom by 43 percent to 39 percent in a head-to-head match-up
More than 849 people are expected to die of drug overdoses in 2023, on pace to exceed the current record of 720 deaths in 2020
‘Meanwhile, independents opting for the Sunshine State by a margin of two to one is a straw in the wind looking ahead to November’s debate between governors Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom.
‘It is DeSantis’ state, not Newsom’s, which swing voters see as the aspirational destination in today’s America. Whether the same will be true of DeSantis’ vision for the nation is yet to be seen.’
Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
But he has repeatedly insisted that he has no intention of running in 2024.
‘President Biden is going to run, and we’re looking forward to getting him re-elected,’ he said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ adding that Biden already has a successor in the form of Vice President Kamala Harris.
For his part, DeSantis this week used the second Republican debate to highlight his record in Florida as a template for the nation.
In the past year, employment in his state has grown by 297,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 30 times as much as unemployment.
Newsom fields questions in the spin room before a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX Business Network and Univision on Wednesday
In contrast, employment grew in California’s much bigger economy by 191,019, a number almost matched by the 171,154 who joined the unemployment list.
The state’s gas tax — the highest in the country — as well as environmental levies are also under intense scrutiny as prices hit $7-a-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 L.A.P.D. Groups of thieves have been pillaging stores including Nordstrom and Versace, in which as many as 30 people have been able to make off with $300,000 in goods.
Andrew Romeo, the DeSantis campaign communications director said: ‘The contrast of California’s failures to Florida’s success demonstrates that Ron DeSantis is right: decline is merely a choice.
‘Ron DeSantis rejects that choice and, as president, will reverse America’s decline.
‘Whether Newsom or Biden is the Democrat nominee in ’24, they both offer the same failed and dangerous ideology for America that helped get us in this mess. We look forward to putting Ron DeSantis’ record of success up against it.’
If they were to run against each other, independents would sway the race to DeSantis. Some 43 percent of independents say they would back DeSantis, while only 32 would back the California governor.
But the match-up is hypothetical and DeSantis has the advantage of already running 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.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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