Voters in Broward are overwhelmingly opposed to changing the county’s name to Lauderdale. And, a public opinion poll released Tuesday found, their opposition is deep.
The poll, conducted last week by MDW Communications, found 80% of likely 2026 voters opposed the proposed renaming. Just 7% supported the idea.
Even more striking, 68% of county voters surveyed said they were “strongly” opposed. Just 4% strongly support the idea.
“Broward County voters seem to have spoken loudly and clearly,” said Michael Worley, a political strategist and founder of MDW Communications. “They are not interested in a name change, and they are clearly upset at the potential cost and the overall necessity in the face of greater challenges such as affordability and (climate) resilience.”
Worley said he was surprised at the strength of the opposition and that only 13% of those surveyed described themselves as neutral. “Generally you’re going to see more voters who have a neutral opinion. On this issue, voters don’t have a neutral opinion.”
Opposition was seen across all demographic categories, Worley said, with no difference between men and women and no difference among racial groups. Democrats were “fractionally more open to the idea” than Republicans.
Renters and homeowners were overwhelmingly opposed, but renters were less likely to be strongly opposed than homeowners. And people with undergraduate or graduate degrees were less likely to hold strong opposition than people with high school degrees or some college.
Arguments rejected
People didn’t buy the central argument advanced by proponents — that rebranding the county with a new name would produce economic benefits — the poll found.
When voters were told that proponents of the Lauderdale name said it would be a stronger global brand than Broward — and that the business community has explored the idea as a way to boost tourism and economic development — 71% found that somewhat or very unconvincing.
Just 16% said it was somewhat or very convincing.
People didn’t accept the argument that a name change would attract new employers and create new jobs and economic activity.
The poll found 77% said that argument was very or somewhat unconvincing. Just 11% said that was very or somewhat convincing.
Status
The idea has suffered setbacks in recent days.
Last week, state Rep. Chip LaMarca, a Republican, temporarily postponed consideration of his legislation that would have placed a name-change referendum on the November 2026 ballot.
LaMarca took that action after a majority of the Broward Legislative Delegation members who met Thursday for a hearing on local bills said they were opposed to the renaming referendum or wouldn’t support it without getting feedback from the County Commission.
Hours later that feedback came, and it was negative. Commissioner Michael Udine, a Democrat, withdrew his resolution declaring County Commission support for the LaMarca bill after a majority of his colleagues said they were opposed or that the idea needed more vetting.
Last week, state Rep. Robin Bartleman, chair of the Broward Legislative Delegation, said she would schedule another hearing at which LaMarca could make another pitch for the referendum bill. LaMarca agreed, but that was before the County Commission discussion.
LaMarca didn’t immediately respond to a message Monday asking about his plans for the bill. Bartleman said the delegation staff had reached out to LaMarca, but hadn’t heard back either.
Meanwhile, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission was set to discuss the idea on Tuesday. Mayor Dean Trantalis, who has been receiving inquiries about the city’s position on the name change, had the discussion item placed on the commission agenda.
The Fort Lauderdale city manager provided commissioners the same backup material that was given to county commissioners last week: a copy of LaMarca’s proposed legislation and a lengthy “white paper” in support of the written by George Hanbury II, retired president of Nova Southeastern University and a former Fort Lauderdale city manager.
The white paper described Hanbury; Tim Petrillo, founder and CEO of restaurant and development companies and Walter Duke, CEO of a commercial real estate appraisal firm and former Dania Beach mayor, as the “Why Lauderdale Committee.”
All are members of the Broward Workshop, the influential organization of top executives from businesses that operate in the county. Petrillo is Broward Workshop chair.
Opposition arguments
Voters agreed with arguments against a renaming.
Many see it as a distraction. Asked about opponents’ argument that a name change was a “completely unnecessary endeavor” that would take time and attention away from issues such as affordability, flooding and controlling taxes, 83% found it convincing.
Only 10% of those surveyed said it was an unconvincing argument.
The opponents’ claim that a name change would be expensive, costing taxpayers “millions of dollars for something that is ultimately unnecessary” was seen as convincing by 86% and unconvincing by 8%.
Additional implications
The company, which does work for many Democratic candidates in South Florida, said in its written survey analysis that the name change issue could be “politically toxic” for supporters.
The survey found 66% of respondents less likely to support a candidate who supported changing the name to Broward County while 7% were more likely to support a candidate who favors the idea.
“The problem with an issue like this for politicians and candidates going into the next election cycle, is it’s an issue that voters can wrap their head around immediately,” Worley said, adding it could be weaponized against supporters.
One finding could give an opening to supporters of the idea. If the cost of a name change was “entirely absorbed by private interests in the business and tourism” sectors and resulted in “no cost” to taxpayers, the pool found support increased fourfold, from 7% to 28%.
Opposition dropped significantly, going from 80% to 43%.
And voters who described themselves as neutral voters more than doubled, going from 13% to 28%.
Fine print
MDW Communications conducted the survey of 1,373 likely general election voters, via email and text message, from Nov. 13-15. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Worley said the survey wasn’t sponsored by a client. He said the firm conducted the survey because the idea was generating a lot of interest. “It was important for us to know the public sentiment on this critical issue.”
Political writer Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.