UNF polls gauges views on Mayor Deegan, Sheriff Waters and State Attorney Melissa Nelson

Worries about the cost of housing vaulted over crime as the biggest concern for Jacksonville residents in a new University of North Florida poll.
The UNF poll released June 3 also gauged favorability ratings for Mayor Donna Deegan, Sheriff T.K. Waters and State Attorney Melissa Nelson. Waters stood at 64% favorability while Deegan and Nelson each was at 61%.
All three are polling as strongly now as they did a year ago, Binder said.
"It's always surprising when polling numbers don't move hardly at all," Binder said.
Deegan, who took office in July 2023, is coming up on the mid-point of her four-year term. Binder said he expects Deegan, a Democrat, will face opposition when she runs for re-election. He said it's "not necessarily going to be an easy road" for a Republican challenger.
"If you want to make inroads, you're up against it," he said. "That being said, there really isn't an opposition campaign that's been run, and if and when that happens, you would naturally see some erosion of that support (for Deegan), especially among Republicans."
On the issues most important to Jacksonville residents, crime historically has been top-of-mind for years. When UNF asked in a September 2023 poll to name the most important problem facing Jacksonville, 37% said crime followed by 11% who cited housing costs.
In the new UNF poll, those are flip-flopped. The cost of housing was the top problem at 25% followed by crime at 12%. Education, transportation and infrastructure each was at 9%. The economy and property taxes each was cited by 8% of respondents. Immigration, which is a big issue nationally, was named the top problem in Jacksonville by 2% of the poll's respondents.
Binder said crime used to be "far and away" the top response. He said it's dropped to a "distant second across party lines" while voters have "shifted to the housing issues we're seeing all over the state."
UNF political science professor Sean Feeder said housing concerns encompass the rising cost of property insurance, the state of the real estate market, concerns about inflation on a national level and the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs on key markets.
In contrast to the consistently high ratings for Deegan, Waters and Nelson, the UNF poll found favorability sliding for Jacksonville City Council.
The UNF poll in May 2024 found 48% approved how City Council was doing it job and 42% disapproved. The new poll shows approval of City Council slid to 42% while disapproval rose to 53%.
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Binder said City Council as a 19-member body always polls lower than individual elected leaders, but it is significant council is underwater in voter views.
"Clearly, there's something happening there that's worth looking at," Binder said.
He said City Council has taken a more partisan turn recently on some matters and that could be a result of looking ahead to the 2027 election when candidates will appeal more directly to voters based on party registration.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: UNF poll finds housing costs biggest concern in Jacksonville

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