Raleigh, N.C. – After a few polls showing little movement in the Florida gubernatorial election, incumbent Rick Scott has almost closed the gap on former governor Charlie Crist. Crist now leads by a 2-point margin, 43/41. Democratic candidate Nan Rich still trails Scott slightly, 40/34, despite Rich having only 9% favorability rating statewide. The gubernatorial race has tightened despite continuing dismal job approval for Scott: only 34% of voters approve of the job he’s doing while 51% disapprove. Opinions about Crist have dropped substantially, though: 36% of voters now view him favorably while 46% view him unfavorably. This is a decline from our October poll, where more voters saw Crist favorably than unfavorably, and likely the reason for his lead evaporating.
“Republican voters have really rallied around Rick Scott over the last three months,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “His consolidating support from the party base explains most of his gain relative to Charlie Crist since the last time we polled.”
Nationally, potential Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio continues to struggle winning over his own state, with 43% of voters approving of the job he’s doing as Senator versus 45% who disapprove. Democratic colleague Bill Nelson has a better net approval rating with 40% of voters giving him high marks compared to 35% who disapprove.
As with other states across the country, voters show widespread support of raising the minimum wage to $10 (62/29). Independents widely support a $10 minimum wage (66/20), and the proposal even garners support from 34% of Republican voters.
For the first time ever we find a plurality of voters in Florida supportive of gay marriage, with 47% supporting it to 44% who disapprove. And though marijuana possession is still criminalized in Florida, voters overwhelmingly support legalizing its use for medical purposes (65/23). Even 50% of Republicans support the medical marijuana initiative, with numbers highest among Independents (77/9).
PPP surveyed 591 Florida voters, including 243 Democratic primary voters, from January 16th to 21st. The margin of error for the overall survey is +/- 4.0% and for the Democratic primary part it’s +/-6.3%. PPP’s surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
General Election Toplines
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of President
Barack Obama’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 44%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 48%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor
Rick Scott’s job performance?
Approve …………….. .34%
Disapprove…………. .51%
Not sure …………….. .15%
Q3 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Charlie Crist?
Favorable…………… .36%
Unfavorable ……….. .46%
Not sure …………….. .19%
Q4 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Nan Rich?
Favorable…………… . 9%
Unfavorable ……….. .21%
Not sure …………….. .70%
Q5 If the candidates for Governor this fall were
Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Charlie
Crist, who would you vote for?
Rick Scott……………………………………………….. 41%
Charlie Crist ……………………………………………. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 15%
Q6 If the candidates for Governor this fall were
Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Nan
Rich, who would you vote for?
Rick Scott……………………………………………….. 40%
Nan Rich………………………………………………… 34%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 25%
Q7 Do you approve or disapprove of Attorney
General Pam Bondi’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 28%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 33%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 39%
Q8 If the candidates for Attorney General were
Republican Pam Bondi and Democrat George
Sheldon, who would you vote for?
Pam Bondi ……………………………………………… 37%
George Sheldon………………………………………. 34%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 29%
Q9 If the candidates for Attorney General were
Republican Pam Bondi and Democrat Perry
Thurston, who would you vote for?
Pam Bondi ……………………………………………… 37%
Perry Thurston………………………………………… 35%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 28%
Q10 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Bill
Nelson’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 40%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 35%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 25%
Q11 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator
Marco Rubio’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 43%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q12 Would you support or oppose a ballot initiative
allowing the use of marijuana for medical
purposes?
Support ………………………………………………….. 65%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 23%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q13 Do you approve or disapprove of the Affordable
Care Act?
Approve …………………………………………………. 40%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 49%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q14 Do you think the implementation of the
Affordable Care Act so far has been very
successful, somewhat successful, somewhat
unsuccessful, very unsuccessful, or are you
not sure?
Very successful……………………………………….. 6%
Somewhat successful ………………………………. 29%
Somewhat unsuccessful …………………………… 20%
Very unsuccessful……………………………………. 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 4%
Q15 Would you support or oppose raising the
minimum wage to $10 an hour?
Support ……………… .62%
Oppose ……………… .29%
Not sure …………….. . 9%
Q16 Congress is considering whether to continue or
cut off federal unemployment benefits for
workers whose state unemployment benefits
have ended but cannot find a job. Do you think
that Congress should continue or cut off federal
unemployment benefits at this time?
Strongly feel
Congress should
continue benefits…..43%
Somewhat think
Congress should
continue benefits…..24%
Strongly feel
Congress should
cut off benefits ……..19%
Somewhat think
Congress should
cut off benefits ……..8%
Not sure …………….. . 7%
Q17 Do you think guns should be allowed in movie
theaters, or not?
Think they should
be allowed…………… 21%
Think they should
not be………………….73%
Not sure …………….. . 6%
Q18 Do you think same-sex marriage should be
allowed, or not?
Think it should be
allowed……………….. 47%
Think it should not
be……………………….44%
Not sure …………….. . 9%
Q19 Generally speaking, if there was an election for
Congress today, would you vote for the
Democratic or Republican candidate from your
district?
Democrat …………… .46%
Republican…………. .41%
Not sure …………….. .13%
Q20 In the last presidential election, did you vote for
Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 51%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 44%
Someone else/Don’t remember …………………. 5%
Q21 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 10%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 20%
Moderate………………………………………………… 33%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 21%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 17%
Q22 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%
Q23 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 41%
Republican……………………………………………… 34%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 24%
Q24 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 13%
White …………………………………………………….. 70%
African-American …………………………………….. 13%
Other……………………………………………………… 4%
Q25 If you are 18 to 45 years old, press 1. If 46 to
65, press 2. If you are older than 65, press 3.
18 to 45………………………………………………….. 30%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 43%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 27%
Q26 Mode
Phone ……………………………………………………. 80%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 20%
Democratic Primary Toplines
Q1 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Charlie Crist?
Favorable…………… .51%
Unfavorable ……….. .27%
Not sure …………….. .22%
Q2 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Nan Rich?
Favorable…………… .13%
Unfavorable ……….. .18%
Not sure …………….. .70%
Q3 If the Democratic candidates for Governor this
year were Charlie Crist and Nan Rich, who
would you vote for?
Charlie Crist ……………………………………………. 58%
Nan Rich………………………………………………… 16%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 25%
Q4 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 18%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 30%
Moderate………………………………………………… 38%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 9%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 5%
Q5 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 58%
Man……………………………………………………….. 42%
Q6 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 16%
White …………………………………………………….. 50%
African-American …………………………………….. 28%
Other……………………………………………………… 6%
Q7 If you are 18 to 45 years old, press 1. If 46 to
65, press 2. If you are older than 65, press 3.
18 to 45………………………………………………….. 33%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 40%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 27%
