TAMPA, Fla. -- A recent poll shows Democrat Andrew Gillum ahead of Republican Ron DeSantis in the race for Florida governor before Sunday night's CNN debate.
Gillum is by far the leading candidate with a 12-point lead over DeSantis among likely voters, 54 percent to 42 percent, according to the newly-released poll conducted for CNN by research company SSRS. It has a margin of error of 3.9 percent and was conducted from Oct. 16-20.
Last time Gillum had such a stratospheric result was a 9-point lead in mid-September but it didn't last long: More recent polling brought it back down to Earth.
The Tallahassee mayor's lead stands in contrast with at least three other polls conducted in recent weeks, which showed him with just a mere 1-point lead and well within the margin of error, making it anyone's race.
The campaign for U.S. Rep. DeSantis disputes the new poll, calling it "questionable" and accusing CNN of trying to fix polling data ahead of the debate. While among likely voters Gillum has a 12-point lead, he has a 10-point lead among registered voters.
The margin of error among likely voters is plus-or-minus 4.2 percent.
"This poll is as amusing as it is suspicious in that it was released hours before a debate between the two candidates – clearly meant to give the advantage to Andrew Gillum," said Stephen Lawson on behalf of the DeSantis campaign in a news release.
"But while CNN is clearly working hard to craft far left polling data with results that are pure fiction, Ron DeSantis is ready to face Mr. Gillum on behalf of all Floridians who stand against his billion-dollar tax increase, anti-law enforcement agenda and record of suspicion and corruption."
RealClearPolitics' average of recent public polls shows Gillum leading by an average of 3.7 percentage points.
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