There’s less than a year until the primaries to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the U.S. Senate but a new poll shows the candidates are still unknown to Florida voters.
Quinnipiac University released a poll on Tuesday morning which finds the candidates are blank slates even with their own parties.
On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., is the best known candidate but two-thirds of all voters -- 67 percent -- aren’t sure about him. Grayson is seen as favorable by only 10 percent of all voters across the state while 22 percent see him in an unfavorable light. He does better with Democrats but 68 percent of them aren’t sure about him while 19 percent see him as favorable and 13 percent view him as unfavorable.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., Grayson’s chief rival, is even less known with 81 percent of all voters not sure about him while 11 percent see him as favorable and 8 percent view him as unfavorable. Murphy does better with Democrats with 20 percent looking at him favorably while 6 percent see him as unfavorable.
With her congressional district expected to be impacted by redistricting, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Fla., was included in the poll. The freshman congresswoman is largely unknown with 9 percent of all voters seeing her favorably, 5 percent unfavorably and the rest not sure about her. Graham is also unknown to Democrats with 83 percent not sure about her while 15 percent see her as favorable and only 1 percent view her in an unfavorable light.
The Republican candidates are just as unknown as the Democratic ones, the poll shows.
If he runs, former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum would be the best known of the candidates from his almost four decades on the political stage, his two past U.S. Senate bids, his gubernatorial campaign and serving in the Cabinet for four years. But even with that background, more than 70 percent of all voters aren’t sure about McCollum while 16 percent see him as favorable and 12 percent view him as unfavorable. McCollum does better with Republicans but even there most of them are not sure about him while 21 percent view him as favorable and 9 percent see him as unfavorable.
The Republican candidates who have already launched campaigns are even less known. Despite having served in his current post for more than a year, 86 percent of all voters aren’t sure about Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera while 5 percent see him in a favorable light and 9 percent view him unfavorably. Lopez-Cantera is even more unknown to Republicans with 5 percent seeing him as favorable, 7 percent unfavorable and the rest not sure about him.
U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., pulls similar numbers with all voters, with 86 percent not sure about him while 6 percent see him as favorable and 7 percent as unfavorable. Jolly does slightly better with Republicans but even there only 7 percent see him as favorable, 3 percent unfavorable and the rest on the fence.
U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., is also largely unknown with 87 percent of all voters not sure about him, 5 percent seeing him as favorable and 8 percent viewing him in an unfavorable light. DeSantis is a blank slate to 88 percent of Republicans while 6 percent see him as favorable and the same percentage views him as unfavorable.
Businessman and veteran Todd Wilcox is the most unknown of the Republican candidates with 92 percent of all voters not sure about him while 5 percent see him favorably and 3 percent see him in an unfavorable light. Wilcox is seen as favorable by 4 percent of Republicans while 1 percent see him as unfavorable and the rest are not sure.
The poll of 1,093 Florida voters was taken from Aug. 7-18 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
