Good morning and happy Friday. Ron DeSantis’ job approval rating is now split in Florida. That’s according to a new poll out yesterday from Florida Atlantic University. In July, a majority of Florida voters approved of the job DeSantis was doing as governor (Mason Dixon polling had even higher approval for him back in March). But in the latest FAU poll, released Thursday, the governor’s approval in the state was almost exactly split, showing a drop of roughly four percentage points in four months. The figures were tucked into a larger report that projected Donald Trump would triumph over DeSantis in Florida’s presidential primary, despite a growing majority of Florida voters having unfavorable views of the former president. To arrive at the results, Mainstreet Research surveyed 946 registered voters over text from Oct. 27 to Nov. 11 across every Florida region. While these numbers are just a snapshot in time, they show the governor’s approval is trending downward in his home state, especially among certain demographics. When DeSantis resoundingly won reelection a year ago, he attracted a diverse coalition of voters that included Independents, women and Hispanics. But DeSantis’ support from Independent voters in Florida has taken a nosedive, the poll shows, with almost 60 percent saying they disapprove of the job he is doing as governor — a nearly 14-point increase from July. The governor launched his presidential campaign in May after the GOP-led Legislature passed a series of conservative priorities, including a law making it harder for undocumented immigrants to work in Florida and a six-week abortion ban. Since then, DeSantis has split his time between the campaign trail and the governor’s office — with most of it spent out of state vying for voters in Iowa. His favorability over that time fell among women, by 8 percentage points, and slightly among Hispanics, by 4.5 percentage points. The poll didn’t ask voters about many policy topics, and it’s possible that Trump’s incessant attacks have taken a toll in the home state they both share. The poll did show that Black voters in Florida, who broadly lean Democratic, held the highest level of disapproval for the governor. Their disapproval grew 10 percentage points since July, to over 80 percent. The new estimates come after DeSantis faced backlash over the state’s new African American history curriculum that required educators to teach how enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” This summer, Democrats also criticized DeSantis' record on race after a white gunman murdered three Black people in Jacksonville in a racially-motivated shooting. On a more recent issue, DeSantis’ policy position appears to be clearly in line with Florida voters. When asked for their opinions on the Middle East, 59 percent of Florida voters said they supported Israel. DeSantis has pursued pro-Israel policies throughout his time in office, including most recently through shipping over medical supplies and flying Americans back from Israel to the U.S. He also had the Legislature send him a bill to further sanction Iran. Yet overall, DeSantis has faced a difficult few weeks of headlines and polling, including in Florida. Some major donors have peeled away and while most members of the Legislature have endorsed DeSantis, Trump flipped a few to his corner. All of these factors are adding to another data point that shows the governor’s influence in Florida is waning. If the polls bear out and Trump is the GOP nominee, DeSantis appears set to return to Tallahassee without the momentum he had at the start of this year. Jamie Miller, a Florida-based GOP strategist, said DeSantis’ decision to run for president was probably a big reason that so many politicians were already floating their names for governor. Much of the political world tends to focus on the next candidate during a governor's final two years in office. “Instead of his lame duck sessions being two sessions, he may have turned it into three,” Miller said. “Because he started looking toward his next thing, others may have started sooner than they would have to look at running for governor.” DeSantis, of course, still holds the veto pen, can be instrumental in fundraising for the state party and will be able to name state appointees. “It’s not like you lost the presidency and now you're fired from being governor — it’s just that there’s others putting out job applications … It doesn’t mean he’s gone, it’s just that he’s not going to be as strong as year five after that reelection,” Miller said. — WHERE'S RON? Gov. DeSantis is campaigning in Iowa and will speak at the FAMiLY Leader’s Thanksgiving Family Forum tonight. On Saturday his campaign is hosting a grand opening for its Des Moines office, and Gov. Kim Reynolds will join him, our colleagues at Playbook in D.C. first revealed. Then DeSantis will campaign in Iowa and give remarks at an anti-abortion gala. On Sunday, Reynolds is joining him on a Never Back Down bus tour in Iowa. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com | 
