A University of North Florida Poll of registered Florida voters suggests a potential U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Gov. Rick Scott would be tight.
Of registered voters, 37 percent said they would support Nelson, while 36 percent backed Scott. Twenty percent of voters remain undecided.
The poll indicates voters also are sticking to party loyalty, with 68 percent of registered Republicans backing Scott, and 66 percent of registered Democrats supporting Nelson.
The statewide poll, conducted from Oct. 11-17 by the school’s Public Opinion Research Lab, indicates 59 percent of voters believe Scott is doing a good job as governor.
That support is 82 percent among Republicans, while 40 percent of Democrats agree.
Nelson, who assumed office in 2001, has a lower overall approval rating at 35 percent. The poll shows 15 percent of voters disapprove, while nearly half, 49 percent, say they don’t know how he’s handling his job as senator.
Florida’s other U.S. senator, Republican Marco Rubio, has a slightly higher approval rating. Forty-two percent of voters either strongly or somewhat approve of the job he’s doing.
According to UNF, 838 voters completed the survey with a margin of error of +/- 3.39 percent.
The poll included other topics, such as President Donald Trump’s approval rating, voters’ sentiment toward Confederate monuments, income taxes and legal immigration.
It found that 59 percent of voters either strongly or somewhat disapprove of the job Trump is doing in office. Like Scott, Trump’s approval rating with Republicans is much higher at 72 percent, while 91 percent of Democrats disapprove of his handling of the White House.
The issue of removing Confederate statues also runs along party lines, with 66 percent of registered Republican voters believing they should stay and 76 percent of Democrats saying they should either be removed entirely or moved to museums.
Overall, just 9 percent of the respondents believe the statues should be completely removed, while 40 percent think they should stay and 47 saying they should be relocated to a museum.
When it comes to income taxes, 67 percent of Floridians prefer a progressive tax rate to a flat-tax rate, with 29 percent believing the opposite.
Voters also were questioned about health insurance. Forty-one percent of voters believe the government should insure most people or everyone, with 24 percent saying the same for private insurance companies.
Finally, the poll suggests that 72 percent of registered Florida voters either want to increase or maintain the current level of legal immigration in the state.