PPP Poll: Jeb Bush Beats Bill Nelson in 2012, Dem Leads Rest of GOP Field

Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with ties to Democrats at the national level, released a poll on Tuesday on the 2012 U.S. Senate race in Florida. While the poll had former Gov. Jeb Bush beating Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, it also had Nelson ahead of the rest of the potential Republican candidates.

While he may have been ahead, the poll showed Nelson is vulnerable in 2012 -- he did not get 50 percent against any of the Republicans who are mostly an unknown bunch.

The poll had Bush over Nelson, 49 to 44 percent. Nelson beat U.S. Rep. Connie Mack 44-36 and the Democrat had the edge over current U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, 47 to 36 percent. Nelson took 44 percent while Senate President Mike Haridopolos had 32 percent. Nelson took 46 percent against former House Majority Leader Adam Hasners 30 percent.

Right now, it appears unlikely candidate Jeb Bush is the only Republican who could defeat Bill Nelson, said Dean Debnam of PPP. But Nelsons job performance reviews are not stellar, and Marco Rubio showed this year that a candidate can come out of nowhere to beat the odds.

The poll of 1,034 Florida voters was taken between Dec. 17-20 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.