DeSantis' poll standing and GOP voter registration advantages mean that Crist, the Democratic primary winner, will face long odds in November.
Rep. Charlie Crist won a primary win in Florida over state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Tuesday night.
This was NBC News's response to the big question Democrats have been worrying about for months:
Who is the underdog to face the popular Republican governor? Ron DeSantis
At 8:12 p.m., Crist had 59.2% to Fried's 35.4%. ET, with 90% of votes in, according to NBC News.
Few Democratic insiders or political observers thought Crist or Fried had much chance going into Election Day.
They cited every public poll that showed DeSantis leading Crist.
National Democrats signal that they will not invest as heavily in Florida now as DeSantis' historic $140million re-election war cash is growing by the day.
Since 2018 , the state's Hispanic population has been moving in the right direction.
For the first time, Florida's registered Republicans are now higher than Democrats, a sign of voter intensity.