As he runs for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate, Florida Democrat Bill Nelson has a narrow lead over Gov. Rick Scott, a new poll shows.
Quinnipiac University released a poll on Tuesday showing Nelson with 46 percent and Scott just outside the margin of error at 42 percent. Both candidates have nailed down their base with Nelson getting 87 percent of Democrats and Scott taking 86 percent of Republicans. Voters outside the major parties go for Nelson 46 percent to 33 percent.
Scott takes 49 percent of white voters while 40 percent of them prefer Nelson. The Democrat is ahead with voters of other races as blacks break his way 74 percent to 15 percent and he is up with Hispanics 46 percent to 37 percent. There’s also a gender gap. Men prefer Scott 49 percent to 38 percent but women go for Nelson 53 percent to 35 percent.
Both Scott and Nelson are in solid shape with Florida voters. Scott gets the approval of 49 percent of those surveyed while 40 percent disapprove of him. Nelson has the approval of 48 percent while 34 percent disapprove of him and 18 percent are still not sure despite his many decades in Florida politics.
Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, offered his thoughts on the poll on Tuesday.
"Florida's Senate race features probably the two best-known politicians in the Sunshine State,” Brown said. “A race between two-term Gov. Rick Scott and four-term incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson makes this unusual in that most voters probably already have made up their minds.
"The race is close, but Nelson's double-digit-lead with independents puts him in slightly better shape eight months from Election Day,” Brown added. “This election is likely to be decided by turnout."
Despite carrying Florida in 2016, President Donald Trump is upside down in the Sunshine State with 42 percent approving of him and 54 percent disapproving of him. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is in even worse shape, according to the poll with 53 percent disapproving of him and 38 percent approving of him.
The poll of 1,156 Florida voters was taken from Feb. 23 through Feb. 26 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percent.
