Pollster · Academic

Stetson University Center for Public Opinion Research

Also published as Stetson University.

Research draft
Polls since 2024
5
Latest poll ended
September 21, 2026

Polls from the VoteHub polling API, used under CC BY 4.0. Each result links to the pollster's or sponsor's own release. Imported once a day; a poll VoteHub later changes keeps its earlier version on record here.

§1About

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Stetson University's Center for Public Opinion Research describes itself in its September 2026 release as an independent, non-partisan survey research center of the university, founded in 2022, that also trains students in survey research.2 A November 2024 Stetson release names political science professor Steven Smallpage as the Center's director, and the September 2026 release lists associate professor of political science Kelly B. Smith as its contact.2,3 The September 2026 Florida survey drew an online non-probability sample from Qualtrics panels, while the November 2024 national survey was conducted by SSRS on its probability-based Opinion Panel Omnibus.2,3

Kind
Academic2
Founded
20222

§2Who it works with

Why this matters: Owners, news partners and the firms behind a poll's interviews shape what gets asked, how, and what gets published.

Part of

  • Stetson University (2022–now). Its September 2026 release describes the Center as a survey research center of Stetson University.2

Fieldwork or panel by

  • Qualtrics (2026–now). Its September 2026 release says the sample came from Qualtrics panels.2
  • SSRS (2024–now). A November 2024 Stetson release says that national survey was conducted by SSRS on its Opinion Panel Omnibus.3

Led by

  • Steven Smallpage. A November 2024 Stetson release names Steven Smallpage, associate professor of political science, as the Center's director.3

§3Whom it works for

Why this matters: A firm that also works for one party's campaigns can still publish accurate polls, but readers deserve to know.

Says it does no work for parties or candidates. Its September 2026 release describes the Center as independent and non-partisan, and a November 2024 release says it specializes in nonpartisan polling. This rests on its own description.2,3

Of its 5 polls listed since the 2024 election, VoteHub flags 0 as paid for by a Democratic-aligned sponsor and 0 by a Republican-aligned sponsor4.

§4Record against results

Why this matters: The one test that doesn't depend on other polls: how close a firm's final polls came to what voters did.

From FiveThirtyEight's final public data5,6: general-election polls between a Democrat and a Republican in the last three weeks before each election, compared with the certified result. FiveThirtyEight rated each name polls were published under separately. Across all 8,957 such polls, the average miss was D+0.7, so the relative figure takes out the misses every pollster shared that year.

Error is the poll's D−R margin minus the result's; D+ means it showed Democrats doing better than they did.
Published asPollsElectionsAverage missRelative to other pollsTypical size of miss538's last rating
Stetson University Center for Public Opinion Research22022D+10.4D+1.410.4 pts1.5 of 3

ABC News closed FiveThirtyEight in March 2025; its data stops at the 2022 elections. 2026 results will be added once states certify them.

§5Its polls

The 5 polls of its we list, newest first.
In the fieldQuestionResultWithPaid for bySample
September 14–September 21, 2026Governor · 2026 FloridaByron Donalds 51 · David Jolly 39830 LV
September 14–September 21, 2026U.S. Senate · 2026 FloridaAshley Moody 51 · Angie Nixon 40830 LV
March 25–April 13, 2026Governor · 2026 FloridaByron Donalds 46 · Jerry Demings 42848 LV
March 25–April 13, 2026U.S. Senate · 2026 FloridaAshley Moody 49 · Alexander Vindman 42848 LV
March 25–April 13, 2026U.S. Senate · 2026 FloridaAshley Moody 51 · Angie Nixon 38848 LV

§6What we looked for and didn't find

  • The Center's pages on stetson.edu and the university news site returned HTTP 403, so current leadership could not be confirmed; the director named comes from a November 2024 release.
  • No standing news partner or non-news client was found.
  • Searches on 2026-11-06 for AAPOR statements, court rulings or settlements, regulator actions, aggregator decisions and retractions or corrections found none naming the Stetson center or its polls, its 2025 to 2026 annual report names no corrected or withdrawn poll, and Silver Bulletin's ratings chart on Datawrapper, updated January 12, 2026, grades Stetson University B/C rather than the F it gives banned pollsters.