Democrats' 'Surprising' Support of Ron DeSantis in Disney Feud

A "surprising" amount of Democrats have shown support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in his ongoing feud with Disney in a new poll.

The poll, conducted by Harvard CAPS-Harris, asked respondents how they felt about DeSantis appointing a special oversight board that will oversee the Disney district and removes its self-governing status. According to the poll, a majority of Democrats said that they opposed DeSantis's position, but 42 percent said they supported it. Overall, the poll found 56 percent of respondents saying they supported DeSantis on this issue and 44 percent disagreed.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor in the political science department at the University of Houston told Newsweek that the percentage of Democrats supporting DeSantis on this is "surprising," and said, "Republicans will certainly use this as fodder to argue that limiting Disney's autonomy is supported by both parties."

The poll's findings come several months after DeSantis signed the legislation appointing the oversight board in February. Many saw the decision by DeSantis as a response to Disney's opposition to the Florida governor's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which barred discussion and instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in some grades across schools in Florida.

When he announced the oversight board, DeSantis noted that the members may also attempt to stop Disney from "trying to inject woke ideology" through its content.

Despite the poll's findings, in April 2022, the Republican-led Florida House passed the bill removing Disney's self-governing status, and during the session, several Democratic members could be heard yelling in opposition.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll surveyed 1,845 registered voters from April 18 to April 19.

On the other hand, political strategist Jay Townsend told Newsweek on Friday that he'd "be cautious about reading too much into a national poll on an issue confined to Florida, especially given that this is a poll of adults, (not registered voters or voters likely to vote in the next election) who may or may not be following Florida news."

Townsend added, "a more accurate reading of how some expect this to play out can be found in recent statements by Messrs. Trump and Christie. Both criticized Mr DeSantis for his obsession with punishing Disney for daring to disagree with the Governor's policies."

A spokesperson for DeSantis's office also told Newsweek on Friday that the poll results were "unsurprising," and directed Newsweek to a recent press conference where the Florida governor spoke about Disney.

"Once the state board took over, we began mobilizing state agencies to ensure that Disney's following the same rules, building inspections, safety, all these other things that they were exempt from [that] everybody else has to follow," DeSantis said this week.

The spokesperson for DeSantis's office also told Newsweek that prior to the oversight board, Disney has had "extraordinary special privileges and an unfair, special advantage," over other businesses in the state.

More recently, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said this month that Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District reached a new agreement that allowed the theme park to set utility rates.

"Last Friday afternoon I learned for the first time about one of these new 11th-hour agreements entered into between Disney and the district...This one relates to our utility services," Chairman Martin Garcia said this week. "We'll have to evaluate the legality of that agreement, that essentially enables Disney to set their utility rates. I've never heard of such a thing."