A new poll in the Florida Republican gubernatorial primary shows James Fishback, a 31-year-old investment firm CEO with radical anti-Israel views, with a double-digit lead among young GOP voters over Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), the favorite to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The University of North Florida poll has Fishback beating Donalds 32% to 8% among GOP voters aged 18-34, even as Donalds leads the primary overall with 31% and no other declared candidate above single digits.
Fishback has made inflammatory racial statements repeatedly about Donalds, who is black, and uses jargon commonly associated with antisemitic alt-right figures like Nick Fuentes, whose supporters Fishback has defended.
At a rally at the University of Central Florida in early February, Fishback described the college’s cafeteria food as “goyslop,” alluding to an alt-right conspiracy that unhealthy food is a Jewish plot against non-Jews.
He also said that he would not visit Israel under any circumstances or kiss “some stupid wall,” referring to the Western Wall. Fishback routinely calls Donalds “By’rone” and makes references to Section 8 low-income housing.
Fishback has been engaged in a number of complicated legal disputes, including suing his former employer over a purported job title. In 2022, Broward County School District cut ties with Fishback over allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old.
The political candidate, seen as a long shot by many, has denied any wrongdoing.
The UNF poll of 657 likely Republican primary voters only included 39 respondents between the ages of 18 and 34, but Fishback’s apparent popularity among young voters conforms with other polls that have repeatedly shown that young GOP voters, and particularly young conservative men, are among the most anti-Israel demographics in the Republican Party.
While Donalds leads the overall race by double-digit margins among declared candidates, the UNF poll shows that if Florida’s first lady, Casey DeSantis, were to enter, she would be within the margin of error of Donalds.
