JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the rising cost of living on many people’s minds these days, it’s not surprising that half of likely midterm election voters believe the most important issue Florida is facing is affordability, according to a recent poll from the Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) at the University of North Florida.
It’s an issue that crosses party lines and demographic groups, the poll found.
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On a more partisan divide, 12% of Democrats and 17% of Independents polled said political division and polarization are the biggest issues in the state, while 14% of Republicans polled pointed to immigration and education as the most important problems.
Other issues respondents chose as top problems included health care (7%), crime (3%), environment (3%) and jobs or unemployment (2%).
In the vein of affordability, respondents were told about a proposed amendment to the Florida State Constitution that would phase out taxes on homestead property, other than those directed to schools, and would prohibit local governments from reducing total funding for law enforcement.
Fifty-six percent expressed support for this amendment, with 35% opposed. Support for the amendment is much higher among Republicans (76%) than Democrats (27%) or Independents (56%).
READ: Complete results & methodology for UNF PORL poll
A smaller but notable difference can be observed between homeowners and renters, with the majority of homeowners in support at 58%, compared to 47% among those who rent their homes.
Immigration policies
Respondents were fairly evenly split when it came to opinions on Florida’s immigration policies and border enforcement.
A total of 49% of respondents said they disapprove of the way the Trump administration is handling immigration in the U.S., either strongly (41%) or somewhat (8%), while 48% percent said they strongly or somewhat approve.
A majority of respondents (55%) disapprove of the job Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is doing, with a total of 42% approving.
Also split were opinions on ICE, with 48% strongly disapproving.
While Trump’s overall favorability is highest among his 2024 voters, 9% of them expressed disapproval of his immigration policies, and 14% disapprove of ICE.
An even greater percentage of all Republicans in the sample (including those who did not report voting for Trump in 2024) expressed disapproval of the federal government’s handling of immigration, with 14% disapproving of the Trump Administration’s immigration policy and 19% disapproving of ICE.
When asked if they support or oppose building additional immigration detention facilities in Florida, possibly in the panhandle and central Florida, a majority of respondents (57%) expressed opposition, with 48% strongly opposed and 9% somewhat opposed.
Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they support building new facilities, either strongly (23%) or somewhat (16%). Support is highest among Republicans, with 71%, while 25% are opposed.
Seventy-six percent of 2024 Trump voters said they support building more ICE facilities in Florida, and 21% are opposed.
“Floridians seem more willing to direct their dissatisfaction with immigration policy to ICE than Trump,” said Dr. Sean Freeder, PORL director and UNF professor of political science. “Building detention facilities in Florida is particularly unpopular, which may give pause to state officials who wish to partner with the federal government in their efforts.”
Among respondents of Hispanic or Latino ethnic background, Cuban respondents tend to have greater support for Trump, his immigration policies, and ICE, compared to Hispanic and Latino respondents of other nationalities.
Overall, Trump’s favorability is 25 percentage points higher among Cubans than non-Cubans, and they differ on immigration policy and ICE favorability by 15 points and 22 points, respectively.
It should be noted that the subgroup of 41 respondents of Cuban descent is too small a sample size to make precise point estimates with certainty; however, large differences across groups can still be observed.
Artificial intelligence
Respondents were also asked if they support or oppose the rollout of artificial intelligence (AI), given its significant increase in usage in the past year.
While the total sample of respondents was evenly split in overall support and opposition, each with 48% -- when it comes to regulating AI, a vast majority across the political spectrum are in favor.
A proposed bill that would regulate the use and application of AI in certain contexts, such as requiring chatbots to notify users that they are interacting with AI, prohibiting the alteration of images to create sexually explicit content, and restricting AI interactions for minors would be supported by 86% of respondents, with just 9% opposed.
Support was roughly the same among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.
“Seemingly ‘common sense’ AI regulations enjoy broad support, but Floridians are much more split on the growth of AI in daily life,” said Freeder. “Republicans are now much more supportive of AI than Democrats, which may set the stage for another major partisan policy battle in coming years.”
Firearm regulations
Interestingly, support for the state of Florida prohibiting firearms at protests and demonstrations is also consistently high across the political spectrum, with the greatest support among independents, at 66%.
In a departure from their traditional views on gun control, Republican support for such a policy (64%) is roughly equal to Democrats, with 63% supporting.
Overall, 64% of respondents said they would support prohibiting firearms at protests, either strongly or somewhat, while 32% expressed opposition.
“Bipartisan support for targeted gun prohibitions might be explained by recent violence against high-profile figures such as President Trump and Charlie Kirk, and/or by the role of firearm possession in the death of Alex Pretti during ICE protests in Minneapolis,” Freeder stated.
Recreational marijuana
When asked if they would support or oppose allowing adults in Florida aged 21 and older to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, 66% of all respondents expressed support, either strongly or somewhat, and 30% said they would oppose the policy.
Again, a large percentage of respondents across political parties showed support for legalizing recreational marijuana, although considerably higher among Independents (80%) and Democrats (77%) than Republicans (50%).
“Just as we found throughout much of 2024, marijuana legalization enjoys high cross-partisan support,” said Freeder. “However, once Gov. Ron DeSantis began heavily campaigning against the amendment, support soured enough to lead to its failure. This could happen again, though we won’t find out in 2026, given enough signatures were rejected in legal challenges to keep the issue off the ballot.”
Recall elections
A few additional proposed policies received majority support across the political spectrum, including recall elections for Florida officials.
Respondents were told that Florida state statutes allow counties and municipalities to remove local elected officials from office by petitioning for a recall election.
When asked if they would support extending this policy to include those serving in the legislature or statewide office, an overwhelming majority expressed support (83%), with just 10% opposed.
Again, support is nearly identical among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and is consistent across demographic groups.
For more results from the poll, including choices in the 2026 midterm elections, see the poll below: