With less than three weeks to go, Florida CFO Jeff Atwater appears to be easing into four more years in Tallahassee.
A poll of likely voters from Viewpoint Florida, which was released on Thursday shows Atwater routing Democratic businessman William Rankin in the general election. The poll finds Atwater taking 54 percent while Rankin garners 38 percent and 7 percent are undecided.
Atwater has the GOP base nailed down, taking 81 percent of Republicans while Rankin has the support of 69 percent of Democrats. Voters outside the two major parties break for Atwater, 56 percent to 35 percent.
The Republican leads with both sexes, taking 58 percent of men and 52 percent of women. Only 35 percent of men and 41 percent of women back Rankin.
Atwater leads with every age group, though Rankin keeps it close with voters 34 and younger as 39 percent of them back the Democrat and 42 percent back the Republican. But Atwater takes a majority of other age groups: 56 percent of voters between 35-49, 54 percent of voters between 50-64 and 57 percent of seniors.
Rankin does get a majority -- 54 percent -- of voters in the Miami media market while Atwater gets 42 percent there. In Tallahassee, usually a Democratic citadel, Rankin has a slim lead over Atwater, edging him 50 percent to 46 percent.
But Atwater leads everywhere else, even beating Rankin by 17 percent in West Palm Beach which is usually more friendly to Democrats. Across North Florida, outside of Tallahassee, Atwater is demolishing Rankin, beating him by 53 percent in Jacksonville, 52 percent in Panama City, 25 percent in Gainesville and 21 percent in Pensacola. Along I-4, Atwater is also running strong, beating Rankin by 16 percent in Orlando and 14 percent in the Tampa media market. Over in Fort Myers, Atwater is beating Rankin by more than a 2:1 margin, routing him 65 percent to 32 percent in that market.
The poll of 1,050 likely voters was taken on Oct. 12 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
