“For whatever reason, voters don’t seem to like DeSantis as much as Gillum. And that’s a problem for the Republican,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac’s polling division. | Chris O'Meara/AP Photo Gillum leads DeSantis by 9 in another poll showing the Democrat ahead

MIAMI — Andrew Gillum surged to clear front-runner status in Florida’s race for governor over Ron DeSantis on Wednesday after a new poll showed the Democrat with a 9 percentage point lead over his Republican rival.

Quinnipiac University’s poll was the ninth publicly released survey in a row that had Gillum leading. The poll showed the Democrat up by 54-45 percent, but it’s the first with an advantage that’s clearly outside the margin of error of plus-or-minus 4 percentage points.


Driving Gillum’s lead: outsized support from women, non-white voters and independents.

DeSantis, whose campaign has spent the past month embroiled in race-related controversies, has grown increasingly frustrated on the campaign trail and has grown testy with the news media in recent days as his poll numbers have declined.

In Quinnipiac’s poll, 55 percent had a favorable view of Gillum and 31 percent had an unfavorable view, giving him a net favorability rating of 24 percentage points. DeSantis’ rating was -5 points, with 42 percent viewing him favorably and 47 percent unfavorably.

“For whatever reason, voters don’t seem to like DeSantis as much as Gillum. And that’s a problem for the Republican,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac’s polling division.

Still, DeSantis is thus far winning in one clear area: TV ads. His side has spent and reserved about $16.8 million on TV since the Aug. 28 primary, compared to the $4.2 million spent by Gillum and his allies.

Brown said Republicans might be getting hurt by voter fatigue with a relatively unpopular President Donald Trump — who strongly backed DeSantis and delivered the GOP primary to him — as well as the president’s imperiled Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault and impropriety by at least three women.

Brown cautions, however, that Florida has a history of close elections and that the 9 point advantage by Gillum could really represent just a 1-point lead, given the margin of error for the poll.

“It might look worse than it is for Mr. DeSantis. But clearly, Mr. Gillum is ahead,” Brown said. “Mr. Gillum has had a good couple of weeks and he’s done this without spending a ton of money, and the national backdrop seems to be helping.”