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<\/source><\/picture>As a debate between the governors of two of the nation\u2019s largest states is scheduled to take place next month, a new poll reveals which of the two states Americans would rather live in and which of the two governors with competing worldviews they would vote for in a hypothetical presidential election featuring the two candidates.<\/p>\n
The Daily Mail released a poll <\/a>Saturday, two months to the day before California\u2019s Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida\u2019s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis are slated to face off in a head-to-head debate<\/a> in Georgia. The survey, which sampled the opinions of 1,000 likely voters between Sept. 15-20, found that 47% of Americans would rather live in Florida, while 40% would prefer living in California.<\/p>\n Additionally, in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup where Newsom was the Democratic nominee for president and DeSantis was the Republican nominee, 43% of voters would choose DeSantis, and 39% would pick Newsom.<\/p>\n While Newsom has repeatedly denied any interest in running for president, DeSantis is seeking the Republican nomination for president and is currently trailing former President Donald Trump by a wide margin in the RealClearPolitics<\/a> average of polls examining the preferences of Republican primary voters.<\/p>\n The crosstabs of the poll show that Democrats would overwhelmingly prefer to live in California, while Republicans are much more enthusiastic about the idea of living in Florida. Fifty-seven percent of independents told pollsters they would rather live in Florida. In the hypothetical presidential race, DeSantis secures the support of 81% of Republicans, while Newsom receives the backing of 77% of Democrats.<\/p>\n Forty-three percent of independents would vote for DeSantis while 32% would select Newsom. The data show that 9% of Democrats would back DeSantis over Newsom, while 4% of Republicans would pick Newsom over DeSantis.\u00a0<\/p>\n The debate, which will air on Fox News and be moderated by Sean Hannity, comes as the states have taken vastly different approaches on hot-button public policy issues. While Florida has banned<\/a> body-mutilating trans procedures for minors, such as elective mastectomies for girls and castration for boys, California is one of 14 states<\/a> that has enacted a \u201cshield\u201d law protecting minors who travel to the state to undergo gender transition procedures and the doctors who perform them from civil or criminal charges if they travel from a state where such procedures are banned.<\/p>\n On the issue of abortion, DeSantis has signed a six-week abortion ban<\/a> into law, while California voters enshrined a right to abortion<\/a> in the state constitution as part of last year\u2019s midterm elections. Last year, Florida passed a law<\/a> requiring schools to keep parents informed of any changes to their children\u2019s physical, mental or emotional health and forbids them from withholding such information from parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n The law attempts to address concerns that schools are keeping parents of trans-identified children in the dark about the fact that their children are suffering from confusion. After Chino Valley School District in California enacted a similar policy, the state filed a lawsuit<\/a> against it. Additionally, California found itself subject to several lawsuits over the stringent worship restrictions it imposed on churches during the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.<\/p>\n In 2021<\/a>, both California and Los Angeles County paid a combined $800,000 to Pastor John MacArthur\u2019s Grace Community Church of Sun Valley after the pastor was threatened with jail time and went through more than a year of litigation over his church\u2019s refusal to abide by the ongoing restrictions he saw as unconstitutional after initially complying.\u00a0<\/p>\n Previously, the state had agreed to pay $2.1 million <\/a>to settle lawsuits filed by churches over worship restrictions.<\/p>\n Florida, on the other hand, became known as one of the first states to offer in-person education options for all students in the fall after the pandemic broke out as well as its comparatively loose COVID-19 restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Daily Mail poll is not the first poll to show DeSantis leading Newsom in a hypothetical presidential contest between the two. A survey<\/a> of 5,050 registered voters conducted in October 2022 by YouGov and the Rose Institute found DeSantis leading Newsom 51% to 49%. A poll<\/a> conducted in June 2022 by YouGov and Yahoo News showed Newsom narrowly leading DeSantis 43% to 42%.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n