Miami Democratic state Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez at the Freedom Tower (via Twitter)
A survey from Democratic Florida attorney general candidate José Javier Rodríguez’s campaign shows him in a statistical dead heat against Republican incumbent James Uthmeier, with Uthmeier leading by 3 points, 38%-35%.
However, the internal poll conducted by Miami-based SEA Research says that after voters are provided “short biographies” of the two candidates, Rodríguez leads Uthmeier, 43%-41%.
The poll of 800 likely general election voters was conducted between Feb. 25 and March 1, with a margin for error of +/- 3.3%. The pollsters say they weighted the poll giving Republicans a 13-point turnout advantage, as was the case in the 2024 general election.
The pollsters say that although Uthmeier, 38, is well known in Tallahassee’s inner circles, he is a relative unknown to rank-and-file voters some 14 months after Gov. Ron DeSantis chose him to succeed Ashley Moody as the state’s AG.
The survey says that 72% of voters polled said they could not offer an opinion of Uthmeier. Of the 28% who did have an opinion, 14% had a “very unfavorable” opinion. It says that 32% gave Uthmeier a “poor or not-so-good job approval rating” and 47% strongly oppose the immigrant detention facility in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The Phoenix has reported that the projected costs for both “Alligator Alcatraz” and the “Deportation Depot” detention facility is $1.7 billion over two years, with Floridians expected to pay at least $1.1 billion.
There has been little public polling so far done in the race, and the information provided to the Phoenix about this survey did not provide the questions asked. A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab taken in October showed Uthmeier leading Rodríguez by nine points, 45%-36% with 14% undecided.
In the 2022 election, Moody defeated Democrat Aramis Ayala in the attorney general’s race, 61%-39%.
Rodríguez, 47, is a Miami attorney with Cuban roots who served in the Florida Legislature from 2012 to 2020. He later served as assistant secretary for employment and training in the U.S. Department of Labor under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2024.
Neither Uthmeier nor Rodríguez faces serious challenges in their primary election contests, taking place in August.
Uthmeier most recently made headlines after the Tampa Bay Times reported that the University of Florida’s law school agreed to pay him a six-figure salary for teaching a single course in both the fall and spring semesters. Florida Democrats have called his situation with UF a sweetheart deal for a “well-connected politician.”