A poll released by Quinnipiac University on Wednesday finds that while voters in Florida have a low opinion of Gov. Rick Scott, they do support his effort to stop illegal aliens from voting.
Scott is upside down in the poll with 49 percent of those survey disapproving of the governor while 39 percent approve of his tenure in Tallahassee. A solid majority of 60 percent support Scotts effort to stop noncitizens from voting, purging them from the rolls.
"Governor Rick Scott may be a lot less popular in Florida these days than President Barack Obama, but on the face-off between the two on the purge issue, Floridians seem to be solidly in Scott's corner," said Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, on Wednesday.
While he engaged in a bitter primary contest with then-Attorney General Bill McCollum in 2010 and won the partys nomination with less than 50 percent support, the poll finds Scott is making up ground with Republicans. The poll finds that 71 percent of Republicans surveyed approve of the governor while 19 percent disapprove. But independents break against the governor with 52 percent disapproving of him while 36 percent approve of him. Democrats are solidly against Scott with 75 percent of them disapproving.
The poll finds Scott is underwater with both men and women. While 42 percent of men approve of the governor, 47 percent disapprove of him. Scott does worse with women as 50 percent disapprove of him and 35 percent approve.
Scott does better on a personal level with 37 percent saying they like him as a person while 35 percent do not. Despite that, 49 percent say they dont like his policies while 37 percent do.
"Florida voters don't approve of the job Governor Scott is doing, Brown said. They don't like his policies, and they are mixed on whether they like him as a person. Women especially disapprove and dislike their governor. He has some work to do here."
But despite 49 percent saying they do not like Scotts policies, the poll finds wide support for the issue he is currently focusing on.
The poll shows that the voter purge effort gets the support of 90 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of independents. While 60 percent of Democrats oppose it, a third of them -- 33 percent -- back the governor on the issue. The voter purge also gets the support of a majority of both genders with 63 percent of men and 58 percent of women backing it.
The poll finds there is a major racial divide on the issue. White voters overwhelmingly back the purge with 67 percent supporting it. Black voters break the other way, with 56 percent opposing the purge while 38 percent support the idea. Hispanic voters are more divided, with 49 percent backing the purge and 42 percent opposing it.
Brown said he was unsure how large the voter purge proposal will be in the 2012 election cycle.
"Whether this voter purge becomes a big-deal issue in the campaign or not is not clear at this point, Brown said.
The poll also finds support of the Stand Your Ground law despite the continuing legal saga following the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. A majority -- 56 percent -- of those surveyed back the law while 37 percent oppose it. The law garners the support of 81 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents. A majority of Democrats -- 60 percent -- oppose the law while 30 percent back it.
Just as with the voter purge, there is a racial divide over Stand Your Ground. While 60 percent of white voters back it, 59 percent of black voters oppose it. Hispanic voters support Stand Your Ground with 58 percent of them behind it and 32 percent against it.
The poll finds a bit of a gender gap as 63 percent of men surveyed back Stand Your Ground while only 50 percent of women do.
Brown said he did not expect the Legislature -- which garners 50 percent disapproval and only 31 percent approval in the poll -- to attempt to change the law.
"There is solid support for 'Stand Your Ground' among Florida voters, especially Republicans," said Brown. "Republican lawmakers, who dominate the state Legislature, would be taking on their own base if they were to change the law."
The poll shows that both of Floridas U.S. senators -- Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio -- are in solid shape with voters in the Sunshine State. Rubio garners 51 percent approval and 31 percent disapproval. Nelson does slightly worse with 47 percent approving of him and 32 percent disapproving of him.
The poll of 1,697 registered voters in Florida was taken from June 12-18 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
