Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., trails Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum in a poll focused on the Florida governor race this year.

Survey results from Public Policy Polling released Thursday show DeSantis trailing Gillum, who serves as the mayor of Tallahassee, by 5 percentage points. Gillum had 48 percent to DeSantis' 43 percent.

The results among independent voters in particular were very unfavorable to DeSantis. Fifty-one percent had a favorable opinion of Gillum, versus 26 percent for DeSantis.

The survey was taken Aug. 29-30, following the recent primary contests, but also during a controversy surrounding comments DeSantis made about Gillum.

During a Fox News interview Wednesday, the congressman appeared to make a racially charged reference to Gillum, who is black, by urging voters not to "monkey" up the election by voting for Gillum.

After being subject to widespread backlash, DeSantis claimed his remark has "zero to do with race."

[Related: Fox News host says 'we do not condone' Ron DeSantis' 'monkey this up' comment referring to black opponent]