Florida GOP Says Kamala Harris’ Poll Surge ‘Extremely Alarming’

The Florida Republican Party said polling suggesting former president Donald Trump could lose Florida in 2024 was “extremely alarming.”
Evan Power, the chairman of the Florida GOP, sent out a fundraising email in response to Newsweek’s August 13 report on a poll that suggested Florida was not a guarantee for Trump with the headline: “Donald Trump at Risk of Losing Florida, Poll Suggests.”
“This headline is extremely alarming,” Power said in the email, according to a screenshot posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Chris Nelson, a Republican running for mayor in Fort Lauderdale.
“Fellow Conservative, it is our job to ensure Florida, Donald Trump’s home state, is LANDSLIDE for him in November. News like this makes our job more challenging, but we are ready to stop Harris’ surge and recover Donald Trump’s substantial lead.”
Power, the Florida GOP and the Trump campaign have been contacted for comment via email.
Florida was once a swing state, but has become conservative bastion in recent years. Trump carried the state in both 2016 and 2020, and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis was re-elected in a landslide in 2022. The state also has 1 million more Republican registered voters than Democrats.
However, recent polls suggest Trump’s considerable lead in the state has been shrinking since President Joe Biden quit his re-election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket. She is set to accept the Democratic nomination at the party’s convention this week.
Newsweek’s August 13 report included details about a USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV survey that found Trump was leading Harris by just five percentage points, 47 percent to 42 percent. The poll of 500 likely voters was conducted between August 7 and 11 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 points.
David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told USA Today that “what was an easy drive through the Sunshine State is drive with caution.” Harris is “still the underdog, but she’s a little bit closer than people might expect,” he added.
Previous polls conducted after Biden quit the race on July 21 had shown Trump leading Harris by between six and eight points in Florida.
While Trump remains ahead, some polls released in the past week have shown his lead in Florida has shrunk even further, suggesting Florida could be extremely competitive in November’s election.
A poll conducted by the Florida Atlantic University Political Communication, Public Opinion Research Lab (PolCom Lab) and Mainstreet Research USA between August 10 and August 11 found Trump was leading Harris by just 3 points in Florida.
“The narrowing gap between Trump and Harris is consistent with the tightening we have seen in other states,” said Kevin Wagner, a professor of political science and co-director of the PolCom Lab. “If this trend holds, we may see a competitive race in Florida.”