PPP Poll: Bill Nelson Leading By Double Digits But Unknown GOP Candidates Moving Up

A poll from Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, showed Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson ahead of three leading Republican candidates who remain mostly unknown.

The poll found that Nelson, who has been in the Senate since 2000 and on the Florida political stage for decades, remained unknown to almost a third of the voters. While 38 percent of those surveyed expressed approval of Nelsons performance and 31 percent disapproved of him, the remaining 31 percent remained unsure about Floridas senior senator. PPP found in a March poll that 38 percent of the state approved of Nelson while 34 percent disapproved of him.

Nelson led three Republican candidates by double digits -- but the Republicans were starting to chip away at the Democrats lead. Nelson topped former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, 46 percent to 35 percent. Back in March, Nelson led LeMieux by 15 points. While Nelson beat former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner by 16 points in March, now the Democrat was up by 12 points, 47 percent to 35 percent. State Senate President Mike Haridopolos trailed Nelson by 16 points in March and that margin also reduced to 12 points with the incumbent up 47 percent to 35 percent. But more than two-thirds of the voters did not have enough information about the three Republicans.

The poll of 848 Florida voters was taken between June 16-19 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.