Raleigh, N.C. – Already the least popular governor in the country when PPP last polled Florida in March, Rick Scott has slid even further in the public’s eyes. Then 32% approved and 55% disapproved. Now, 33% approve and 59% disapprove. His entire decline has been with independents. According to exit polls, they favored him over Democrat Alex Sink by eight points last November, but their assessment of his job performance has sunk from an already abysmal 31-54 to 27-64, a decline of 14 points in three months and 29 points lower than his victory margin with them.
Sink’s advantage in a hypothetical do-over of last fall’s election, which she lost by just over one point, has grown by a corresponding three points since the previous survey. Sink would rout Scott today, 57-35, up from 56-37 in March. Independents favor the Democrat, 55-33, but Scott’s decline on this measure has come with the GOP, who would only side with him, 68-23, versus 73-21 in March and 88-10 in November.
Scott’s standing is so poor that 40% of this swing state’s voters say his actions as governor will make them less likely to support the Republicans’ presidential nominee next year. Only 26% say they will make them more likely. Most crucially, independents say by a 45-18 margin that Scott has turned them off from GOP candidates in general.
Voters also say they would vote for ex-governor Charlie Crist to return to office as a Democrat, 56-34 over Scott. Independents would favor Crist, 62-30. Voters are pretty warm to the idea of Crist running as a Democrat, with 43% saying he should join that party to 26% saying he should not. Democrats are most supportive of it, 46-18.
“If Charlie Crist has a future in electoral politics it’s probably as a Democrat,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “And while he would trounce Rick Scott the reality is that so would a ham sandwich as the Governor continues to become more and more unpopular.”
PPP surveyed 848 Florida voters from June 16th to 19th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-3.4%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews. PPP is a Democratic polling company, but polling expert Nate Silver of the New York Times found that its surveys in 2010 actually exhibited a slight bias toward Republican candidates.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor
Rick Scott’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 33%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 59%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
Q2 If you could do last fall’s election for Governor
over again, would you vote for Republican Rick
Scott or Democrat Alex Sink?
Rick Scott……………………………………………….. 35%
Alex Sink………………………………………………… 57%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
Q3 Have Rick Scott’s actions as Governor made it
more or less likely that you’ll vote for a
Republican for President next year, or has it
not made a difference?
More likely………………………………………………. 26%
Less likely ………………………………………………. 40%
Hasn’t made a difference ………………………….. 34%
Q4 Do you think Charlie Crist should become a
Democrat or not?
He should……………………………………………….. 43%
He should not………………………………………….. 26%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 31%
Q5 If the candidates for Governor next time were
Republican Rick Scott and Charlie Crist,
running as a Democrat, who would you vote
for?
Rick Scott……………………………………………….. 34%
Charlie Crist ……………………………………………. 56%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%
Q6 Who did you vote for President in 2008?
John McCain…………………………………………… 45%
Barack Obama………………………………………… 48%
Someone else/Don’t remember …………………. 7%
Q7 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 10%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 17%
Moderate………………………………………………… 30%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 23%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 20%
Q8 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%
Q9 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 ……………………………………………….. 42%
Republican……………………………………………… 36%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 21%
Q10 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 11%
White …………………………………………………….. 69%
African-American …………………………………….. 15%
Other……………………………………………………… 5%
Q11 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 12%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 28%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 33%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 27%
