A new poll shows a tight race between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Gov. Rick Scott in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the nation.
Rasmussen Reports released a poll on Thursday which shows Nelson at 45 percent and Scott right behind him at 44 percent while 5 percent opt for other candidates and 6 percent are not sure.
There is a slight gender gap with Scott ahead with men 48 percent to 44 percent while Nelson leads with women 45 percent to 40 percent. Nelson leads with seniors and voters under 40 but Scott is ahead with voters between 40 and 64. Scott leads with whites 47 percent to 43 percent and with Hispanics 47 percent to 41 percent while blacks go for Nelson 67 percent to 28 percent.
Both candidates have nailed down their party base with Democrats going 77 percent to 14 percent for Nelson while Scott takes Republicans 82 percent to 13 percent. Nelson gets almost half of voters outside the major parties--49 percent--while 31 percent of them are for Scott while 12 percent are on the fence and 8 percent are undecided.
Scott is seen as favorable by 49 percent of those surveyed while 45 percent view him unfavorably.
Nelson is also above water with 48 percent seeing him as favorable and 42 percent see him as unfavorable.
President Donald Trump, who carried in Florida in 2016, is seen as favorable by half of those surveyed--50 percent--while the other half--also 50 percent--disapprove of him. Asked if the upcoming elections are a referendum on Trump, 47 percent said yes and 43 percent said no.
Asked about the most important issue of the election, 23 percent say the economy, 15 percent say government ethics and corruption, 13 percent say taxes, another 13 percent say illegal immigration, 8 percent say social issues, another 8 percent say the environment, 6 percent say education and another 6 percent say school safety.
The poll of 800 likely voters in Florida--35 percent of them Republicans, 34 percent of them outside of the major parties and 31 percent of them Democrats--was taken from Sept. 10-Sept. 11 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent.
