Rick Scott's Q-Poll Numbers Improve Over the Summer

A new poll shows Gov. Rick Scott is treading water but still in better shape than he has been in years with his poll numbers moving up over the summer. 

Quinnipiac University released a poll on Tuesday morning which shows 45 percent of Florida voters approve of Scott while 44 percent disagree. This is a shift from a Quinnipiac poll taken in June which had Scott upside down with 49 percent of voters disapproving of him and 39 percent approving of him. This also marks the first time since the start of Scott’s time in Tallahassee back in early 2011 that he was not upside in a Quinnipiac poll. 

Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, noted Scott has been out of the political limelight which helped his numbers bounce back. 

"With little attention on him these days, Gov. Rick Scott gets his best approval rating ever, perhaps useful for the lame-duck governor who is rumored to be interested in running for the Senate in 2018," Brown said on Tuesday. 

The poll shows Scott has nailed down the Republican base with 75 percent approving him and only 18 percent disapproving of him. Scott fares much worse with Democrats as 69 percent disapprove of him while 20 percent approve of him. A majority of voters outside the major parties--51 percent--disapprove of Scott while 38 percent approve of him. 

There is also a gender gap on Scott. A majority of men--53 percent--approve of him while 38 percent disapprove of Scott. But half of women--50 percent--disapprove of Scott while 39 percent approve of him. 

The poll of 1,093 Florida voters was taken from Aug. 7-Aug. 18 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.